Senegal Beats Ecuador 2-1: Senegal marched into the last 16 of the World Cup as captain Kalidou Koulibaly scored his first international goal with inspiration from the late Papa Bouba Diop in a 2-1 victory over Ecuador on Tuesday.
Koulibaly scored three minutes after Moises Caicedo had evened the score at 1-1.
Chelsea defender Koulibaly prepared for the Group A decider with Ecuador by scrawling the No 19 onto his yellow captain’s armband with a black marker pen.
Nineteen was the shirt number worn by Diop, the former Fulham, Portsmouth, and West Ham midfielder, when he scored a famous winning goal against France, and Senegal went on to the last eight of the World Cup finals in 2002.
In a must-win match for the African champions, Senegal took the lead after a first-half penalty by Ismaila Sarr. Caicedo scored his goal in the 67th.
The Netherlands beat Qatar 2-0 in the other match to win group A. Senegal finished second while Ecuador and Qatar were eliminated.
Senegal last advanced from the group stage at the 2002 World Cup when the team reached the quarterfinals in its tournament debut.