Youri Tielemans scored a controversial last-minute penalty winner to give Belgium a stunning 3-2 comeback win over Senegal in the World Cup round of 32.
Goals from Sunderland’s Habib Diarra and Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr put Belgium 2-0 down in the 86th minute.
But Belgian substitute Romelu Lukaku and midfielder Tielemans scored twice in three minutes to send the game to extra time.
Belgium’s Youri Tielemans is fouled by Senegal’s Lamine Camara.
A penalty kick was awarded in the 117th minute before Tielemans was brought down for a foul by Lamine Camara, and the referee awarded a spot kick after a seven-minute VAR review.
speaking ITV, sky sports Experts Roy Keane and Gary Neville disagreed with the penalty decision.
Tielemans then stepped up to convert a penalty in the 125th minute, setting up a round of 16 tie against co-hosts USA or Bosnia-Herzegovina in Seattle (1am UK time on Tuesday 7 July).
How Belgium dramatically turned things around
Senegal naturally took the lead ahead of half-time as Sarr’s header hit the post and Diarra headed home in the 25th minute.
Sarr doubled the lead six minutes into the second half when he brilliantly brought home a long ball that broke the Belgian defence.
Senegal’s Ismaila Sarr gave the African team a 2-0 lead.
Belgian pair Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku were surprisingly sent off in the 56th minute. It looked like this would be the 35-year-old De Bruyne’s final World Cup appearance.
But his Napoli team-mate and first-half substitute Lukaku sparked a stunning comeback when he fired Belgium’s first shot on goal with four minutes left in normal time.
Two minutes and 39 seconds later, Tielemans headed in Belgium’s second shot from Leandro Trossard’s cross to stun Senegal.
Twenty minutes earlier, the pair had had a heated exchange during the hydration break, but that frustration gave way to joy as Belgium somehow forced extra time.
Controversy then broke out in extra-time when VAR spotted a foul on Camara on Tielemans with Dodi Lukebakio hitting the bar, and a penalty was awarded after a lengthy pitch review.
Last January, Senegal was sent off in protest at being awarded a late spot-kick against Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations final, costing them the title.
But there was no such antics this time as Tielemans put Belgium past without courage, scoring the most recent goal in World Cup history at 124 minutes and 44 seconds.
Youri Tielemans’ penalty kick gave Belgium the lead against Senegal.
Nev and Keane believe penalty compensation is wrong.
Speaking on ITV, Sky Sports’ Gary Neville said:
“I don’t think it’s a fixed penalty in this tournament.
“I honestly don’t believe it was a penalty. It would be fair enough if Tielemans got kicked after touching the ball.
“The more VAR sees, and the longer he has seen incidents in this World Cup, the more he has re-refuted the game.
“They (VAR) took too long to send the referee. Jaffrey was not sure because he watched it for several minutes.
“In the end, they made a 50-50 decision.”
Referee Saeed Martinez checks VAR to confirm Belgium’s penalty kick against Senegal.
Sky Sports Roy Keane said on ITV:
“It’s very, very harsh.
“The referees spent so much time in front of the screen that they usually seemed to be making decisions faster.
“You want confidence in the referee’s decision, but he clearly hesitated for a long time.”
Referee Said Martinez awarded a penalty kick to Belgium.
