World Cup: ‘I’ll not represent Senegal until, this coaching staff leaves’ – Gueye says after World Cup exit

Senegal midfielder Pape Gueye has announced that he will no longer play for the national team as long as head coach Pape Thiaw remains in charge.

The 27-year-old made the announcement on social media after the Teranga Lions suffered a dramatic 3-2 defeat to Belgium after extra time in their Round of 16 clash at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

In a post written in French, Gueye said he would address Senegal’s elimination in more detail later but confirmed he was stepping away from the national team under the current technical crew.

“I’ll come back to speak about our elimination, but today I announce that as long as this technical staff remains, I will take a break from the national team,” he wrote.

Senegal looked set to reach the quarter-finals after first-half goals from Habib Diarra and Ismaila Sarr gave them a 2-0 lead.

However, Belgium staged a remarkable comeback, with Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans scoring to force extra time before Tielemans converted a 125th-minute penalty, awarded after a VAR review, to complete a 3-2 victory.

The result ended Senegal’s hopes of securing their first World Cup knockout-stage win since their historic debut campaign in 2002.

Gueye’s decision has increased the pressure on Thiaw, whose substitutions while protecting a two-goal advantage were heavily criticised.

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Defending his decisions after the match, the Senegal coach insisted the changes were unavoidable because several players had become fatigued.

“They were tired and couldn’t continue. Leaving them on the field would have been unprofessional on our part. We had to replace them like for like,” Thiaw said.

“Of course, when you lose a match after leading 2-0, people will talk about the substitutions. But you can’t reduce everything to that. These changes were dictated primarily by fatigue rather than tactical considerations.”

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