Belgium vs Senegal promises to be a fascinating game, with both sides being evenly-matched and in equally middling form.
Belgium endured two opening draws against Egypt and Iran in the group stage, while Senegal suffered two defeats vs France and Norway.
To qualify, both teams battered their opposition and booked spots in the Round of 32, with the Red Devils prevailing 5-1 against New Zealand and the Senegalese decimating Iraq 5-0.
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Belgium vs Senegal prediction: Will the World Cup’s biggest underachievers get past their Senegalese hurdle?
Both of these sides proved in their final games of the group stage that, when on it, they can be a serious threat in North America.
Both teams also falter when the pressure is on at the World Cup, with poor knock-out phase records in recent editions to prove it.
Pape Thiaw’s men are a serious force, having beaten Round of 16 side Morocco earlier this year in the Africa Cup of Nations final, on the pitch.
Senegal have been perhaps the most dominant side across the African continent for nearly a decade now.
They made it the AFCON final in 2019, won it in 2022, lost to eventual champions Ivory Coast in 2023, and should have prevailed against Morocco this year, with the result being overturned off the pitch.
Belgium, meanwhile, are historic underachievers at the World Cup, having possessed a formerly-ranked #1 team and failed to ever seriously compete at the tournament.
But Senegal also boast similar failings, having been decimated in their last knock-out clash at the tournament against England, by a score-line of 3-0 in the 2022 edition’s Round of 16.
Despite this, Belgium were played off the park by Egypt in their first game of the tournament, while Senegal fought valiantly against a France side that seems inevitably final-bound at the 2026 World Cup.
Pape Thiaw’s men have faced harder competition to get here, and, despite losing, that experience will get them over the line.
Belgium are not France, they’re not even Norway, and Senegal’s escape from the ‘Group of Death’ is commendable.
The Red Devils’ stalemates against Egypt and Iran, however, are not. This one will go to Senegal.
Prediction: Belgium 1-2 Senegal
Goals: Jeremy Doku, Ismaila Sarr, Iliman Ndiaye
