Senegal Reach Rof16 : Senegal became the first African team to qualify for the Round of 16 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup after they defeated Ecuador by 2-1 on Tuesday afternoon at the Khalifa International stadium in Al Rayyan.

The Teranga Lions had the first real opportunity to score in the 3rd minute as Iddrisa Gana Gueye delivered a heavy strike that kissed the goal post.

In the 9th minute top scorer of this year’s World Cup Enner Valencia tried his luck from a distant freekick but his effort was off target.

It was not until the 44th minute that the first goal of the match was scored from the spot by Watford forward Ismaila Sarr. The Premier League star was brought down in the box by Piero Hincapie and he stepped forward to successfully convert it.

Ecuador equalized in the 68th minute through Moises Caicedo but Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly scored the winning goal in the 70th.

The former Napoli center-back was at the right place at the right time to slot home his first goal of the competition from a free-kick rebound.

The 2002 FIFA World Cup quarter-finalists had six shots on target against four of Ecuador.

Meanwhile Netherlands edged out host Qatar by 2-0 in the other Group A encounter played in Al Khor. The Dutch thus finished on seven points in three games to win the group as Senegal pick the group runner-up position on six points in three matches.

Senegal Reach Rof16 as Ecuador and Qatar exit the competition.

This qualification to the knockout round is more remarkable for Aliou Cisse and his players considering the fact that they are without star attraction Sadio Mane who was ruled out of the competition at the last minute.

They lost to Holland in their group opener but bounced back to defeat host team Qatar by 3-1 and completed their group play with a solid 2-1 win over Ecuador.

Should England go ahead to top Group A , then The Three Lions will face the Teranga Lions on December 4th in Al Khor.