I Substituted Key Players Because They Were Tired – Pape Thiaw

Pape Thiaw

Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw has defended his substitutions against Belgium at the 2026 World Cup. This comes after a shocking comeback ended the AFCON winner’s World Cup campaign, and fans have been reacting.

Insisting that the changes were not tactical blunders, Thiaw stated that the substitutions had to happen to manage the physical condition of his squad.

Pape added that leaving tired footballers on the pitch would’ve been very unprofessional from him and his coaching staff.

His words, “They were tired and couldn’t continue. Leaving them on the field would have been unprofessional on our part. We had to replace them, like for like.

Of course, when you lose a match after leading 2-0, people inevitably talk about the substitutes. But you can’t reduce everything to that. These changes were primarily dictated by fatigue, more than by tactical considerations.

We just lost a match that was really important to us. We wanted to qualify for the Senegalese people, we thought we deserved it, but unfortunately, we are eliminated. I am sad, the players are sad too, because they really wanted this qualification.”