The hope of the African continent rested on the Tarenga Lions of Senegal to fly the flag of the rest of Africa into the second round and perhaps the quarterfinals of the FIFA 2018 World Cup as they filed out to play against Columbia in the last round of matches in group H.
But that was not to be as the Senegalese team which was Africa’s only surviving representative at the tournament has crashed out after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Columbia.
All Senegal needed to qualify was a draw that would have taken them to 5 points but Columbia’s Yerry Mina 74th minute goal shattered the dreams of the West Africans.
With four points and same goal difference, they were tied with Japan who as also lost their last game in the group 1-0 against Poland. But the West African country received more yellow cards (6) than Japan (4) which meant that the Asians qualified ahead of the Africans.
Its the first time in history that a World Cup group stage qualification will be decided based on yellow cards.