Senegal sealed their World Cup qualification campaign with a follow up victory over rivals South Africa. They thrashed their opponents in the replayed match in Durban before a second home victory in Dakar.
FIFA ordered a replay following allegations of match manipulation. The Bureau for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers ordered that the game be replayed after considering the sporting analysis and the betting patterns from international betting monitoring companies.
The Court of Arbitration (CAS) also upheld the lifetime ban to match referee Joseph Lamptey for match manipulation following an earlier ruling by FIFA Disciplinary and Appeal Committees.
FIFA said the move follows its zero-tolerance policy on match manipulation and its promise to protect the integrity of the game.
Senegal defeated South Africa in both their home win and the Durban fixture in one week. Senegal lost the first game against South Africa played November 2016. There was a case of non-existent hand ball that the referee awarded a penalty. South Africa won 2-1. After the back and forth, the game was annulled.
In the replay, Liverpool’s Sadio Mane was critical, helping out in both goals as Diafra Sakho netted the opener before Thamsanqa Mkhize scored an own goal.
In the final game in Dakar, they won 2-1. Opa Nguette scored first but Percy Tau equalized. Kara Mbodji then scored the winner in the stoppage time. They return to the World Cup since Korea/Japan 2002, where they delivered a stunner.