Published Jun 12, 8:28pm ET by
Demilade Adelekun - Betting Preview Analyst and Sports Writer
Last updated Jun 12, 8:28pm ET
Credit: Shutterstock
Updated Jun 12, 8:28pm ET
Senegal and Iraq meet on matchday 3 of Group I at BMO Field in Toronto, in Iraq's final group game after 40 years away from the World Cup stage.
Sadio Mané captains a Senegal side that won the AFCON and arrived in North America with genuine knockout round ambitions.
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| Iraq | +500 |
| DRAW | +314 |
| Senegal | -222 |
Sadio Mané is 34 and playing in his third World Cup with 55 international goals. He is the emotional spine of this squad and still its most dangerous player in transition. Nicolas Jackson leads the line from Bayern Munich, where he scored 22 goals across all competitions this season. Pape Matar Sarr runs the engine from Tottenham with the range and press intensity of a top-level Premier League midfielder. Lamine Camara operates alongside him from Monaco. Ismaïla Sarr and Iliman Ndiaye provide pace and directness on both flanks. Kalidou Koulibaly anchors the defence at 34, still physically dominant and composed in every moment that matters.
Senegal beat France 1-0 in the 2002 World Cup group stage. They know how to handle pressure, how to win when it counts, and how to grind results against teams that organize deep. Against Iraq's compact block, the quality across Senegal's front four should create enough chances to win this comfortably.
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Iraq's return to the World Cup after 40 years is one of the tournament's great stories. Aymen Hussein scored the winner against Bolivia in the playoff final to send his country back to the biggest stage, a moment that meant everything to a nation that had waited four decades. Graham Arnold has built a disciplined, well-organized side that defends deep and transitions quickly. Zidane Iqbal controls the midfield from Utrecht with composure beyond his years. Ali Al-Hamadi, the first Iraqi to play in the Premier League, leads the line from Ipswich.
Hussein's pre-tournament preparations were disrupted after he was held for questioning at Chicago airport for seven hours on arrival into the United States. Arnold confirmed he remained available for selection, but the distraction is real. More fundamentally, the squad beyond Hussein and Iqbal draws almost entirely from the Iraqi domestic league. Against Senegal's pace and pressing system, sustaining the defensive discipline required to steal a result over 90 minutes is a difficult ask.
Mané, Jackson, Sarr, and Ndiaye against a domestic-heavy Iraq defence making their last stand in Group I. Senegal's quality across every attacking position is the edge. Iraq's best moments come in transition and their block can be stubborn, but Senegal have too many threats to be contained. We're backing Senegal -222.
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Pick
Senegal -222
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