Senegalese star Sadio Mané, who plays for Al-Nassr, has predicted the result of his national team’s match against Iraq in the 2026 World Cup finals in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Iraq have qualified for the 2026 World Cup finals for the second time in their history, and the first time after a 40-year absence since their sole qualification in 1986, following a 2-1 victory over Bolivia in the early hours of Wednesday morning in the Intercontinental Play-off final.
The “Lions of Mesopotamia” will compete in Group I, which includes France, Norway and Senegal, with the match against the “Lions of Teranga” being their final group stage fixture.
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Al-Nasr FC posted a video on its official X account of its Iraqi player Haider Abdulkarim congratulating his national team on qualifying for the World Cup.
Abdulkarim said: “Congratulations on qualifying for the World Cup, congratulations to the players and the Iraqi people, and I hope it will be a proud campaign at the World Cup.”
At the end of the video, Abdulkarim appeared alongside Sadio Mané, where one of those present asked the Senegalese star for his prediction on the result of his country’s match against Iraq, to which he replied: “3-0.”
It is worth noting that the Iraqi national team is aiming to reach the second round of the World Cup for the first time in its history, having been eliminated in the first round during its only previous appearance 40 years ago, whilst Senegal’s best result was reaching the quarter-finals at the 2002 World Cup.