Was Senegal robbed? An arbitration controversy accompanies the “Lions of Teranga’s” dramatic exit against Belgium | sports

The penalty kick awarded against the Senegalese national team in the final moments of its match against Belgium, today, Thursday, sparked widespread controversy, after it caused its exit from the round of 32 competitions in the 2026 World Cup, in a harsh scenario after the “Lions of Teranga” were leading 2-0 before losing 3-2.

Honduran referee Saeed Martinez awarded a penalty kick at the end of the second extra period, after returning to video technology (VAR), following an intervention by Senegalese Lamine Kamara on Belgium captain Youri Tielemans, as the result of the match indicated a 2-2 draw, and was heading to penalty kicks.

The “Archivo VAR” platform, which specializes in analyzing arbitration cases, stated that video technology intervened excessively during the match, confirming that Tielemans was the one who extended his foot in front of Kamara, which led to the contact.

The platform added, through its account on the “X” platform, that the shot does not deserve the intervention of video technology, explaining that the Belgian player was the one who caused the entire contact, and that the situation does not represent a clear and clear error that justifies the referee’s review of the decision.

The decision sparked a wide wave of controversy on social media platforms, as one activist wrote: “This is 100% theft. Senegal was stolen. How can this ball be awarded a penalty kick? Belgium does not deserve to qualify in this way.”

Sports content creator Sneko also accused the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) of rigging the match, saying: “The result of the match was rigged and Senegal must storm the field now, then leave and return home. What happened was rigged.”

Another activist wrote: “I’m sorry, but this was not a penalty kick at all. Kamara went to clear the ball, but it was Tielemans who intervened in front of him. Senegal was robbed, and Belgium should have gone out.”

Spanish sports journalist Manolo Lama also commented: “The African Cup was stolen from them, and now in the World Cup they are stealing all solidarity with Senegal.”

For his part, Egyptian journalist Mohamed Saeed linked the incident to what happened in the 2025 African Cup of Nations final against Morocco, as he wrote: “You feel that the penalty kick awarded to Senegal in the last seconds was a harsh lesson and a difficult test. After watching the African Cup of Nations final, I believe that had it not been for changing the law of the game in the withdrawal shot, the scene could have been repeated.”

Activist Fares Ahmed wrote: “Sometimes football gives lessons before awarding championships, and what happened today brought to mind what Senegal did in the Moroccan championship, then the organizers and Moroccan players were forced to go to them and beg them to return in order to preserve the championship.”

He added: “They took advantage of the weakness of the tournament and the host’s need to make it a success and imposed their pressure. Today the scene was almost repeated against Belgium, a penalty kick in the last minutes, an objection and a lack of conviction in the decision, but this time there was no threat of withdrawal, because sanctions in a tournament the size of the World Cup cannot be risked.”

In the context of linking the events together, one of the followers said on his account on “X”: “When there was a clear penalty kick in the Moroccan final, they rebelled against the decision and ruined the reputation of African football only because the tournament was in Morocco, and when there was an unclear penalty kick that excluded them from the World Cup, they remained silent because it was in the West.”

After the exciting penalty kick was awarded, Tielemans stepped forward to implement it and succeeded in scoring it to score the third goal for Belgium, and the match ended with an unexpected remontada that eliminated the Teranga Lions.