Senegal need victory when they face Ecuador in the final round of Group A at the FIFA World Cup to reach the round of 16.
The last time Senegal qualified from the group stage was on their World Cup debut in 2002, when they finished behind Denmark in a group that also had Uruguay and France, and made it to the quarter finals of that tournament.
Despite being level on points with Japan in 2018, the Teranga Lions were eliminated on grounds of the Fair play rule as they accumulated more yellow cards than the Samurai Blue.
Once again the Teranga Lions have their destiny in their own hands and need victory against Ecuador to progress to the round of 16 of the tournament.
They already have the record of being the first African team to knock out a host nation after defeating Qatar 3-1, but they face an uphill task in Ecuador who are unbeaten after tow rounds – beating Qatar and drawing against Netherlands.
It’s expected that the Netherlands will make light work of Qatar and clinch a place in the round of 16, leaving the second slot open to either Senegal or Ecuador.
Fenerbahce forward Enner Valencia has scored all of Ecuador’s goals in this competition and is level with Kylian Mbappe on the top of the scoring chart with three goals.
Ecuador will be glad to have their Captain back available for this clash as he was an injury doubt before this fixture.
A draw will be enough for Ecuador to progress and are expected to be very cautious, defending low and looking to hit Senegal on a counter.
Senegal will also be careful not to let any goal in and would be hunted by the fact that they have conceded beyond the 70th minute mark in each of their last six world cup group stage appearance.
However history favour Senegal as they have beaten Ecuador in the two meetings between the sides.
