Senegal's Kalidou Koulibaly, right, celebrates with teammates scoring his side's second goal during the World Cup group A soccer match between Ecuador and Senegal, at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022. (Photo: AP)

Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly put his team into the last 16 of the World Cup by scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory over Ecuador on Tuesday.

Koulibaly scored three minutes after Moises Caicedo had evened the score at one all.

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.

At 1-1, Ecuador would have advanced from Group A and Senegal would have been eliminated.

The Netherlands beat Qatar 2-0 in the other match to win the group. Senegal finished second while Ecuador and Qatar were eliminated.

The last time the West Africans moved from the group stages was in 2002 when Senegal reached the Quarter Finals. On their way to that stage, they had eliminated defending champions France in the group stages.