Late heroics from Salomon Kalou ensured Ivory Coast would progress to their third consecutive World Cup finals, despite being massively outplayed in a 1-1 draw against Senegal in Casablanca.

Ahead 3-1 on aggregate following the first match of this two-legged tie, the Elephants found themselves on the back-foot from the opening kickoff as Papiss Cisse had a chance to open the scoring with a header after only four minutes.

But the Newcastle striker couldn’t put his effort on target—a theme that would repeat itself throughout the 90 minutes for both Cisse and his teammates.

Gervinho, who was Ivory Coast’s best attacker in the first half, came close himself in the fifth minute of a furious start to the match when his slalom run through the Senegal area quite nearly saw him walk the ball into the back of the net.

From there, things seemed to settle. However, in the 13th minute, Senegal once again came within inches of scoring when Dame N’Doye’s well-placed header was acrobatically cleared off the line by Didier Drogba.

Ivory Coast would get one more decent opportunity as well before the first half came to a close—Kalou, who would later be celebrating, failing to control Gervinho’s ball across the face of goal.

Senegal, needing a 2-0 victory to get back to the World Cup for the first time since 2002, came out flying to start the second half, and Cisse had perhaps his best chance of the night in the 48th minute, only to be robbed by Boubacar Barry in the Ivory Coast net.

The Lions of Teranga continued to force the issue throughout the period until they were finally given a lifeline by referee Djamel Hamoudi, who awarded them a penalty after Drogba pulled Salif Sane to ground from behind.

Substitute attacker Moussa Sow stepped up to do the business and made no mistake from 12 yards.

Now needing only a single goal to punch their ticket to Brazil, Senegal poured on the pressure in the final few minutes, but catching them on the break deep into stoppage time, Kalou found the back of the net and sealed the vital, if perhaps undeserved, result for Ivory Coast.

Key Player Grades

Didier Drogba: B-

It was a puzzling performance from the Galatasaray striker, who in the early going made an absolutely vital clearance to prevent a goal but then conceded a penalty with just a quarter-hour remaining on the clock. Nevertheless, he’s through to his third World Cup, and it’s a good bet he’ll make his presence felt, one way or another, in Brazil.

Boubacar Barry: A

Barry, who plays his club football in the Belgian league with Lokeren, put in one of his finest performances in an Ivory Coast shirt on Saturday, making a handful of important saves and absolutely dominating his opponents in the air on set-pieces. When the 33-year-old is on form, his side can get a result against almost anyone.

Sadio Mane: A-

The Red Bull Salzburg youngster was a constant thorn in the side of Ivory Coast right-back Jean-Jacques Gosso and played in a half-dozen dangerous crosses over the course of the night in Casablanca. It was the finishing that let his side down, however, as Cisse seemed unable to place his headers on target and more often than not, there simply weren’t enough white shirts in the 18-yard box.

What’s Next?

Senegal’s World Cup dream is over, and they’ll now turn their attention to qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations, which they have missed out on in two of the last three instalments. Ivory Coast, meanwhile, will go into the Group Stage Draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.