Rudi Garcia's side looked to be heading for elimination after Senegal established a deserved two-goal lead. Habib Diarra opened the scoring after reacting quickest to a rebound when Ismaïla Sarr's header struck the post from Sadio Mane's cross.

Senegal continued to dominate after the break and doubled their advantage through Sarr, who collected Moussa Niakhate's long pass before finishing confidently past Thibaut Courtois. It was Sarr's fourth goal of the tournament, matching the record for the most goals scored by an African player at a single World Cup.

Belgium struggled for long periods but found hope through their substitutes. Romelu Lukaku pulled a goal back with a sharp near-post finish from Thomas Meunier's cross before Tielemans levelled the match late in normal time by beating Mory Diaw to Leandro Trossard's delivery.

Extra time remained evenly balanced, with Senegal almost restoring their lead when Ibrahim Mbaye fired narrowly wide. Belgium also came close through Dodi Lukebakio, whose effort struck the crossbar.

The decisive moment arrived deep into stoppage time in extra time when a VAR review ruled that Lamine Camara had fouled Tielemans inside the penalty area. The Belgium captain calmly sent Diaw the wrong way from the spot to complete a remarkable turnaround and extend Belgium's unbeaten run to 17 matches.

Garcia praised his players for refusing to give up despite trailing by two goals late in the contest.

"Football is emotions, this evening we had plenty," Garcia said. "When you're down 2-0 in the 83rd minute, it's never easy to come back and win the match.

"But this is what I said to the players at the hydration break: we had to score the third goal in the match and then anything is possible.

"We did it, we delivered and then it opened up the game again."

The Belgium coach said the dramatic victory could strengthen the squad as they continue their World Cup campaign.

"It is a scenario that can make the group grow even stronger and tighter together and realise that until the final whistle, a lot of things can happen as we just demonstrated today."

Garcia even described the comeback as a "remontada" and believes it could become a defining moment for his team.

"I arrived 18 months ago because I believe there's quality in this team. It's not the best of all time, but tonight we wrote history," he said.

"We didn't win anything, we qualified for the round of 16. Now we're going to savour our victory and our 'remontada'."

Belgium will now travel to Seattle, where they will face the United States for a place in the World Cup quarter-finals, while Senegal's hopes of matching their famous run to the last eight in 2002 came to an agonising end.

Steve Barker in awe of current Stellenbosch squad