Senegal Qualifies After 20 Years – Heartbreak For Ecuador

Ecuador and Senegal played their last match in group A. Senegal qualified after the win and they will go to the next stage, Ecuador will go home as they have been knocked out of the 2022 world cup.  They had a good world cup so far but losing this match was enough to send them home. Senegal reaches the second time in knockout stages of the world cup in their history. The last time they qualified for the next round was in 2002.

Match Breakdown

Senegal started the match defending the ball as Ecuador was trying to score early. But Senegal won the penalty just before halftime. Sarr scored cool and calmly. Ecuador equalized in the 67th minute, Plata delivered the ball and Torres jumped and flicked the ball in the middle. Then Caicedo slots the ball into the net as he was unmarked. Just after 3 minutes, Koulibaly scored an amazing goal to give the lead back to Senegal. He fired the volley straight into the net as the ball came to him after bouncing on Torres’s shoulder. Senegal attempted a total of 14 shots out of which 3 were on target. But it was enough to send them to round of 16. Ecuador may have won the possession battle but they lost the game. They attempted 9 shots out of which 4 were on target. It was not enough to win the game.

Man of the match

Chelsea’s center-back and Senegal’s captain Kalidou Koulibaly was the man of the match. He scored the match-winning goal and was also rock solid with defense. 

Netherlands and Senegal are through to the round of 16, and Qatar and Ecuador are out of the tournament. Ecuador did well in their first two matches especially their striker Valencia. A lot of improvement is needed for hosts to come back stronger. All the best to Netherlands and Senegal for the next round and to Qatar and Ecuador for the future.