Senegal sack Thiaw after disappointing World Cup campaign

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Senegal are on the hunt for a new head coach after they announced Pape Thiaw had been relieved of his duties following an underwhelming World Cup campaign. 

Thiaw, who was only appointed last October, led Senegal to the knockout stages of the World Cup, but they were beaten in dramatic fashion by Belgium in the last 32. 

During their campaign in North America, Senegal advanced as one of the best third-placed teams after winning just one of their Group I matches, which came against Iraq. 

They looked on course to reach the last 16 at the World Cup for the second consecutive edition, having taken a two-goal lead by the 51st minute against Belgium. 

However, two late goals in three minutes from Youri Tielemans and Romelu Lukaku forced extra time, with the Belgian captain scoring a 125th-minute winner from the penalty spot. 

Belgium trailed 2-0 as late as the 85th minute, the latest into a World Cup game in normal time a team had trailed by 2+ goals and avoided defeat, and that result proved to be the end of Thiaw’s tenure as Senegal now turn their attention to finding a replacement. 

Communiqué de la FSF à l’issue de la réunion du Comité exécutif tenue ce samedi 11 juillet 2026 pic.twitter.com/P17O8eDz6W

— FSF (@Fsfofficielle) July 12, 2026

Thiaw took charge of 25 matches across all competitions, winning 15 (D6 L4), and had enjoyed a promising start with Senegal after leading them to World Cup qualification. 

He also oversaw their run to the Africa Cup of Nations final, but that match was overshadowed by Senegal’s walk-off protests when Morocco were awarded a late penalty. 

Senegal went on to win the match 1-0, but the Confederation of African Football (CAF) overturned the result and declared Morocco the AFCON winners for the second time. 

Thiaw was due to begin ‌a ⁠five-match ban in September at the start of the 2027 Cup of Nations qualifiers because of that incident. 

Senegal said their results at ​the World Cup necessitated a change ‌at the helm of the team, and it has been reported that Patrick ​Vieira, who was born in Dakar, is the favourite to replace Thiaw.

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