UNITED STATES -- While the jury's still out on this expanded 48-team FIFA World Cup, Senegal won't be complaining after thumping Iraq 5-0 to keep their hopes of reaching the knockout stages alive in their final Group I game.
For teams in groups with one particularly weak team at this tournament, the expanded competition, and a format which allows eight of the best third-placed teams to progress, means that even the poorest of starts can be salvaged.
In the 96-year history of the World Cup, no team has ever lost their opening two group stage games and advanced to reach the knockouts, yet Senegal are on the brink of doing just that after following up losses against France and Norway with a smashing of Iraq.
The Asian side are ranked 63rd in the world, are returning to the high table for the first time in 40 years and, having won the Inter-Confederation playoffs, wouldn't have qualified had it not been for the expanded field.
Having been soundly beaten by Norway and France, they were out of their depth here - particularly during a second half when Senegal ran riot, with Iraq, tired, collapsing, surely wishing the game was over, affording the Teranga Lions an open road to maximum points.
They opened the scoring in the fourth minute through Habib Diarra, gained a man advantage 11 minutes later when Rebin Sulaka was dismissed for dragging down Sadio Mané. Senegal then took the game beyond their fading opponents during a magnificent second-half.
In the process, Senegal became the first African team to score five goals in a World Cup game, and -- having dramatically improved their goal difference -- are on the cusp of the knockouts.
Head coach Pape Thiaw made the tough changes before the match, finally putting Kalidou Koulibaly out of his misery and introducing Abdoulaye Seck into the heart of his defence - the call he surely should have made ahead of their opener - while dropping misfiring Nicolas Jackson and promoting wonderkid Ibrahim Mbaye to the starting XI.
The Paris Saint-Germain teenager -- at 18 years and 153 days -- becomes the youngest Senegal player ever to start a World Cup match, and the fifth youngest African player ever to start at the tournament.
Elsewhere, Ismail Jakobs started at left back ahead of El Hadji Malick Diouf, while Habib Diarra was introduced ahead of Pape Gueye to inject a genuine midfield engine into the heart of the park, likely to compensate for the ageing legs of Idrissa Gueye.
While Diarra opened the scoring, it was Pape Gueye, entering as a 67th minute substitute, who truly fired Senegal to the brink of qualification.
It was his goal that downed Morocco to win the Africa Cup of Nations final, and here he excelled -- slamming home a stunning left-footed effort moments after entering -- before adding Senegal's fourth 11 minutes later.
Iliman Ndiaye, who has been limited to seven minutes before this match, nonetheless registering an assist against France, must have been champing at the bit to make his impact in this match, and added a stunning fifth from range eight minutes from time, after being brought into the fold with half an hour to play.
Despite their troubles, Senegal have never looked short of a goal threat -- scoring three across their matches with France and Norway -- and indeed, the complexion of the group could have been very different had Ismaïla Sarr and Nicolas Jackson taken their chances in the first half against Les Bleus.
Sarr added his third of the tournament here, but with the likes of Jackson and youngster Assane Diao coming off the bench - albeit against a limited, besieged Iraq backline - Senegal roared back to form in style, serving a clear reminder that they'll be a handful for anyone unfortunate to come up against them in the knockouts.
They ended this one with 28 shots and 69 percent of the possession, and while their defence looked solid -- despite the absence of goalkeeper Édouard Mendy following the ligament injury he sustained against Norway -- that's no guarantee that they'd be similarly untroubled against sterner opponents in the challenges to come.
Africa's champions will now wait and to see how the other groups unfold, and where that leaves them heading into the knockouts, but whatever happens next, this was a resounding return to form, and a reminder of the immense offensive quality and the strength in depth they possess.