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Belgium's Rudi Garcia has taken to social media after his comments following their 3-2 victory over Senegal at the 2026 World Cup sparked outrage.
Belgium looked like they were going to head out of the competition when they trailed Senegal by two goals going into the final few minutes of their last 32 match at Seattle Stadium.
However, they produced an unlikely comeback to shock their African opponents and emerge victorious.
Romelu Lukaku, who started the match on the bench, gave Belgium hope as he halved the deficit with four minutes remaining. Youri Tielemans headed home shortly after to send the match into extra-time.
Belgium were then given a spot-kick in the dying embers of extra-time when Tielemans was felled inside the box. The Aston Villa midfielder made no mistake as he dispatched his penalty with aplomb to give his side the victory.
Rudi Garcia's Comments After Belgium 3-2 Senegal Cause a Stir
Garcia caused a stir after the match with comments he made about Senegal 'losing tactical control' in the final minutes. He said, per Goal:
"We know these teams; they lose their tactical control towards the end of the match. At 2-0, we knew they would do everything to protect their goal, which in my opinion is a serious mistake. Remind me, when we're 2-0 up, not to do that! Because when you concede a goal like they did at 2-1, the game changed completely, and we were able to equalise."
Garcia was asked to clarify those comments during his post-match press conference. He said: "No, no, I didn't say that. You're misinterpreting my words. Senegal deserved to go through as much as we did.
"I said that when you're ahead, and that's the case for all teams in the world, you tend to drop back and try to protect your goal. We pushed forward, and they dropped back. And I think if we hadn't scored the second goal, we would never have come back."
Rudi Garcia Releases Statement on Social Media
Garcia has now taken to social media to defend himself even further following the backlash. He wrote in a statement on X:
"To revisit my post-match statement and clear up any ambiguity: when I spoke of 'those teams,' I was referring to teams unaccustomed to managing a lead in high-level World Cup matches.
"My comments were by no means aimed at African teams; they could just as easily have applied to Asian, South American, or European teams unfamiliar with that kind of pressure.
"As a less experienced coach myself, I learned the hard way that stopping play to defend a result at all costs is counterproductive. That is what I had in mind when I said that such teams can lose their tactical shape in those moments."
Belgium will face co-hosts USA in the last 16 of the competition. The match will take place at Seattle Stadium on Monday, July 6.
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