Nigeria, Nov. 29 -- The Teranga Lions of Senegal and the Netherlands have both qualified for the knockout phase of the World Cup from Group A after winning their final group games on Tuesday.

While Senegal battled to a 2-1 win over a hard-fighting Ecuadorian team, the Netherlands affirmed their qualification for the Round of 16 with a 2-0 thumping of host Qatar.

Ibrahima Sarr gave Senegal the lead against Ecuador in the 44th minute from the penalty spot but the South American side drew level in the 68th minute through 21-year-old Moises Caicedo

However, the reigning African champions gave an instant response as captain fantastic Kalidou Koulibaly scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 70th.

Koulibaly replicated the feat of S...