I woke up this morning and checked the scores and honestly my jaw dropped. Senegal put five past Iraq. Five. In a World Cup group match. That's never happened before for an African team. Never. Habib Diarra opened the scoring in the fourth minute, and then Iraq lost a man to a red card in the thirteenth. But even with ten men, they held on until halftime. Then Senegal just exploded. Ismaila Sarr scored his fourth career World Cup goal, breaking Papa Bouba Diop's all-time record for the nation. Papa Gueye came off the bench and smashed two absolute rockets from outside the box. Iliman Ndiaye curled in a beauty to finish it off. 5-0. First African team to hit five in a World Cup match. They finished third in Group I and now they wait to see if that's enough to sneak through as one of the best third-placed teams. If they do, they could face England in the round of thirty-two.

France also handled business. Ousmane Dembele scored a hat-trick in thirty-two minutes against Norway, the second-earliest hat-trick in World Cup history. France won 4-1 and topped the group with nine points. Norway finished second. Netherlands beat Tunisia 3-1, scoring twice in the first seven minutes. That's the fastest start to a World Cup match since 2002. They'll face Morocco in the round of thirty-two.

Group H still has Spain versus Uruguay later today. That one decides who tops the group. Spain only needs a draw. Uruguay needs a win. Cape Verde plays Saudi Arabia in the other Group H match. That 40-year-old keeper Vozinha might get another shot at history.

The group stage is nearly done. The round of thirty-two starts Sunday. South Africa versus Canada in Los Angeles. Brazil versus Japan in Houston. Netherlands versus Morocco in Monterrey. I don't know about you but I'm already clearing my weekend plans.

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