By The Numbers: Senegal First African Team To Advance

The African champions Senegal have become the first African team of the to advance to the knockout round. A 2-1 victory against fellow contenders Ecuador on match day three allowed the Lions of Teranga to finish in second place whilst the Netherlands beat Qatar 2:0 to top Group A. It was the first time that the African champions have advanced to the knockout round since their amazing run 20 years ago in South Korea and Japan. Even more bizarre, they also finished second in that Group A also scoring five goals and conceding four during that tournament.

History

The win represents the fourth win for African teams at the tournament, equalling the record from the 2002 (South Korea & Japan) and the 2010 tournament (South Africa). With four teams still to play over the next couple of days, will we see a record set by one of our African neighbours?

Match Stats

As both teams knew a win was necessary to secure second spot, the pace of this game was fast, and the play was mostly direct and vertical through the channels. Ecuador pushed both full-backs high up the field – perhaps a very brave move considering the pace of Senegal’s wide men. Further to that, Aliou Cisse’s men were happy to press the full-backs and engineer passages of play in behind the space left by the Ecuadorian defence.

39% – the possession stat for Senegal vs 61% for Ecuador (their lowest value of the three group matches)

14 – the number of shots taken to Ecuador’s 9 (the highest value of the group stages)

91 – the number of passes in the final third for Senegal

26 – penalty area entries for Senegal vs 25 for Ecuador

Ismaila Sarr

The Lions of Teranga knew a win was their only option to secure a spot in the knockout round and produced a strong start from the opening whistle. With Sadio Mane out, Sarr has been one of Senegal’s most influential players at this tournament – leading the shots count (6) and chances created (5). His multiple runs behind the Ecuadorian defence proved problematic and eventually lead to him being fouled inside the area which left referee Clément Turpin no decision other than to award the penalty. Sarr calmly slotted the ball into the bottom-right-hand corner to give Senegal the lead on the edge of half-time.

Second Half

The second half saw a completely different Senegal side and as such their vibrant start was also wiped away. This gave Ecuador a lifeline and as such, they took advantage and equalised just after the hour mark before Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly turned the tide again in his country’s favour just three minutes later.

Next Round

It is Senegal’s first time in the knockout rounds since 2002 – when Bruno Metsu was still in charge. That said current coach Aliou Cisse was part of the team that went deep into that tournament so he will be familiar with what is required from his team. Up next for the African champions is an English side that have scored 9 goals and topped Group B.