Belgium's dramatic late comeback against Senegal has propelled them into the last 16 of the World Cup, much to the delight of head coach Rudi Garcia. The match, held at Seattle Stadium, saw the Red Devils turn the tide after trailing 2-0 until the 86th minute, ultimately securing a victory in extra time.

Late Drama and Historic Comeback

Belgium faced a challenging situation as Senegal's Habib Diarra and Ismaila Sarr put them two goals down. However, in a remarkable turnaround, Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans scored two goals within three minutes to level the match. Just when it seemed penalties were inevitable, a foul by Lamine Camara on Tielemans in stoppage time led to a penalty kick, which Tielemans converted. This marked the latest goal ever scored in World Cup history at 124:44.

Garcia's Reflections on the Victory

Garcia emphasized the importance of this victory for Belgium's campaign in North America, stating, "I arrived 18 months ago because I believe that there's quality in this team. It's not the best of all time, but tonight we wrote history." He acknowledged that while they have qualified for the round of 16, there is still much work to be done. "It doesn't matter who it's going to be. Now we're going to savour our victory and our 'remontada'," he added.

Belgium's comeback is significant as they became the first team in World Cup history to win a match after trailing by two or more goals since their own comeback against Japan in 2018. Despite their victory, they were outperformed in terms of expected goals (xG), with a total of 1.74 from 19 shots compared to Senegal's 3.58 from the same number of attempts. Garcia noted the emotional rollercoaster of the match, stating, "Football is emotions. We had plenty." He believes this experience will strengthen the team's bond as they look ahead to the next round.