Abdoulaye Seck paid tribute to his son. (Photo- GETTY)
Abdoulaye Seck, FIFA World Cup: On the stage of FIFA World Cup 2026, while on one hand the Senegal team created history by defeating Iraq 5-0, on the other hand an emotional moment was seen on the field which brought tears to the eyes of football fans all over the world. 34-year-old experienced defender Abdoulaye Seck, who set up the first goal for Senegal in the opening minutes of the match, paid a heart-touching tribute to his late son on the field. After this goal, he lifted his shirt and shared the deep pain hidden inside with the world.
‘Forever’… lifted his shirt, kissed his son’s photo and started crying
Senegal got a corner kick in the fourth minute of this match played at Toronto Stadium. Abdoulaye Seck jumped in the air and played a powerful header shot, which deflected off teammate Habib Diarra and went straight into Iraq’s net. After this explosive start of the match, the entire team jumped with joy, but Sec remained calm. He lifted up his jersey, inside which a beautiful photo of his late son was printed on the T-shirt he was wearing.
On the T-shirt worn inside, it was written in big letters, ‘Forever’. Sek placed his finger on the photo, kissed it and could not stop his tears while pointing towards the sky with both hands. His fellow players present on the field understood this emotional moment and hugged him.
Senegal recorded the biggest win in World Cup history
After this emotional start, the Senegal team completely dominated Iraq on the field. In the 13th minute, Iraqi defender Rabin Sulaka was shown a red card for fouling Sadio Mane, after which the Iraqi team was reduced to 10 players. Senegal scored a total of 5 goals one by one in this match. This is the biggest win ever recorded by any African country in the history of the FIFA World Cup.
Knockout hopes alive
After losing both the initial matches, the Senegalese team was in danger of being out of the tournament, but this 5-0 victory has changed their fortunes. Thanks to this big win, Senegal has strengthened its goal difference (+2) by finishing third in Group-I. Now they have reached fifth position in the points table of the best third placed teams, due to which their hopes of reaching the knockouts have become very strong. On the other hand, Iraq’s World Cup 2026 journey has ended here with three consecutive defeats.
