Senegal: Pape Thiaw, prime culprit

Senegal collapsed against Norway, seriously compromising its chances of qualifying for the round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup. After a heavy initial defeat against France, this new rout highlighted terrible defensive flaws and glaring collective shortcomings.

At the center of the storm, coach Pape Thiaw has now been singled out as the main culprit by disheartened supporters. Recently hailed as a hero after a hard-fought and successful Africa Cup of Nations 2025 on the pitch—before the decision of CAF’s Appeals Jury—the coach now finds himself vilified across the Atlantic, bearing the brunt of an entire nation’s frustrations.

Failing management of key players

The criticism centers on a strong, contentious choice: the systematic selection of the same players, no matter what. Thiaw chose to field regulars visibly out of form and at the end of their rope. The ultimate symbol of this failure, Kalidou Koulibaly—already in serious trouble in the opening match against Les Bleus—crumbled beneath the Scandinavian onslaught, directly involved in all three Norwegian goals. Alongside him, Pape Gueye never made an impact in midfield, while Sadio Mané remained desperately powerless, leaving only Ismaïla Sarr to lead the attack with a brace that wasn’t enough to mask the team’s overall deficiencies. Amid this malaise among the thirty-somethings, only goalkeeper Édouard Mendy managed to maintain his standards, albeit with difficulty.

The coach is reproached for his overly cautious conservatism and a regrettable tendency to favor reputation over freshness and current form. Young talents like Ibrahim Mbaye, Assane Diao, and the highly promising Bara Sapoko Ndiaye—true revelation of the pre-tournament warm-ups—have been relegated to bit-part roles, with not a single minute of play for the Côme striker and the Bayern midfielder.

The World Cup is not the CAN

This abrupt transition from a well-managed CAN to this American disaster serves as a stark reminder of an immutable truth: the physical, tactical demands and intensity of a World Cup are nothing like those of a continental competition. The global stage does not forgive sentiment or sacred cows.

This crisis is erupting at the worst possible moment for Pape Thiaw, even as his contract situation—which had dragged on over issues “of principle and respect,” according to him—was close to being finally settled. Now on the hot seat, the coach must face his destiny.

A future now tied to the World Cup

After the match, dejected yet combative, he conceded that the team knew it was a final and let it slip. “It hurts, it hurts because after all we had prepared well for this match to get the three points. We knew it was a final. Now, we lost it,” he admitted. But far from giving up, he still hopes to turn things around.

“Everything can still be decided on the last matchday. We’re going to prepare well. We absolutely didn’t want this result. But now, we know we have one game left. We have to give it everything. After that, we’ll see and hope.”

Now with his back against the wall, Thiaw knows he’s fighting for both Senegal’s future and his own in this final match against Iraq. Barring a major revolution in the lineup and an unexpected qualification on June 26 in Toronto, the fate of the Senegalese coach already seems sealed.