Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was ruled out of the team’s knockout round against Belgium at the World Cup on Wednesday due to injury.
On Tuesday, coach Pape Thiaw confirmed that the Al-Ahli goalkeeper will miss his second consecutive World Cup match after injuring his knee during Senegal’s 3-2 defeat to Norway in the group stage.
Mendy returned to his club team in Saudi Arabia to undergo further tests. The 34-year-old goalkeeper was not present at training at the Husky Soccer Stadium in Seattle on Tuesday, but Thiaw expects him to return on Tuesday evening.
“He will of course be with us tomorrow even if he is not fit to play,” Thiaw said in French. «We are happy to see him. We hope he can be with us for the rest of the competition.»
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Since his debut in 2019, Mendy has played more than fifty games for Senegal and started all four games at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Senegal has two other goalkeepers on its list. Mory Diaw, who plays for French top division Le Havre, started against Iraq and replaced Mendy against Norway. The 33-year-old goalkeeper made one save and kept a clean sheet in Senegal’s 5-0 win to complete the group stage.
“Mory performed great, he kept a clean sheet,” said Thiaw. “I think for the goalkeeper tomorrow we hope that we also get a clean sheet.”
Yehvann Diouf, who also plays for Nice in the French first division, is the other goalkeeper. The 26-year-old has two caps for Senegal.
Senegal advanced to the round of 32 as one of the top eight third-place teams. It lost to France and Norway before beating Iraq, finishing with three points and a plus-two goal difference.
Belgium finished first in Group G with draws against Egypt and Iran and a 5-1 win over New Zealand.
The winner of Wednesday’s match will stay in Seattle and play against the United States or Bosnia-Herzegovina on July 6.
Published on July 1, 2026
