Senegal hammered Iraq 5-0 on June 26 in Group I of the FIFA World Cup 2026, picking up their first win of the tournament after two painful defeats. The result keeps the Lions of Teranga alive in the competition, though their path to the round of 32 now depends on results elsewhere.

H. Diarra opened the scoring in just the fourth minute. I. Sarr doubled the lead in the 56th minute, and then P. Gueye scored a brace in the 59th and 71st minutes. I. Ndiaye added a fifth in the 82nd minute.

The scoreline was emphatic enough to significantly boost Senegal’s goal difference, a factor that could prove decisive. Under the 2026 tournament format, with 48 teams divided into 12 groups of four, the best third-placed teams across all groups advance to the round of 32.

Senegal’s tournament started with a 1-3 loss to France, followed by a narrow 2-3 defeat to Norway. This is Senegal’s fourth World Cup appearance overall, following campaigns in 2002, 2018, and 2022. The 2002 tournament remains the high-water mark, when the team reached the quarterfinals.

On June 9, FIFA announced Kraken as the Official Crypto Exchange Supporter of the competition. As of June 16, no official crypto fan tokens existed for either Senegal or France, two of the more prominent teams in Group I.

Chiliz, the primary blockchain platform powering fan tokens across European football, has partnerships with dozens of major clubs. The platform lets supporters vote on minor club decisions, access exclusive content, and participate in gamified experiences.

The Kraken-FIFA partnership signals that major crypto exchanges see sports sponsorships as a viable customer acquisition channel. For CHZ holders specifically, the absence of national team fan tokens represents both a risk and an opportunity. The risk: if the World Cup cannot drive meaningful adoption of fan tokens, it raises questions about the ceiling for that use case. The opportunity: a massive addressable market remains untapped.