Pape Thiaw signed his contract as Senegal's national team coach hours before their group-stage match against Norway. Not days before. Hours. That single detail tells you everything about how this campaign was run.
The sporting elimination at the hands of Belgium was bad enough. What's come out since is on another level entirely. According to Sport News Africa, the delegation's hotel camp gradually turned into a venue for private gatherings — officials inviting content creators and personal friends, bottles of alcohol, expensive gifts, lavish spending. Hotel staff reportedly complained repeatedly about the noise. All of this while the players were supposed to be preparing for World Cup football.
Players left to fend for themselves
Some members of the squad, apparently fed up with the chaos around them, resorted to ordering fast food to their rooms. At a World Cup. The apathy from sections of the staff was apparently so complete that the players had no other choice.
Then came Pape Gueye's decision to retire from the national team entirely — a key figure walking away in the immediate aftermath of the exit. More players are expected to speak publicly. The Senegalese Football Federation hasn't issued a formal statement yet, though one is likely coming as the pressure mounts on social media, where fans have made their embarrassment very clear.
From a betting perspective, Senegal had been seen as one of Africa's more stable international sides heading into this tournament. That reputation is going to take real time to rebuild — and any odds on their next major campaign will rightly factor in the institutional dysfunction this World Cup has exposed.
The deeper problem
This isn't just a story about bad behaviour. It's about a federation that sent a coaching staff to a World Cup without properly contracted leadership, and allowed its delegation hotel to become a sideshow while the players competed. Gueye's retirement is the loudest signal so far. It probably won't be the last.
Senegal is watching the rest of the tournament from home. The football was the least of their problems.
