Senegal And Netherlands Book Place In Last-16

The Netherlands and Senegal booked their place in the last 16 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup after wins over hosts Qatar and Ecuador respectively.

Qatar finishes their historic World Cup with zero points, the worst-ever performance from a host nation in the history of the competition.

Already eliminated coming into the game against the Oranje, goals from Cody Gakpo – his third in as many games – and Frenkie de Jong secured a comfortable win for them to win Group A.

Meanwhile, African champions and Ecuador had a thrilling affair, with the South Americans edging them in second going into the game.

After an impressive start to the game, it seemed as if it was just a matter of when, before they scored the opener, but it came from the spot when Ismaïla Sarr netted with supreme composure on the brink of half-time.

Moises Caceido threw a spanner in the works when he was left unmarked in the area and slotted home with a deflected corner heading into his path after 68 minutes. But the celebrations were short-lived.

Captain Kalilidou Koulibaly headed home to put the Lions of Teranga ahead two minutes later, which proved the pivotal goal to send through to the knockout stage of the competition for the first time since 2002, ironically a squad head coach Aliou Cisse formed part of as captain when they reached the quarter-finals.