In a thrilling finish to Group H play on Friday, South Korea stunned Portugal 2-1 on Hee-Chan Hwang’s goal in stoppage time to advance to the knockout stage at the World Cup at Al Rayyan, Qatar.
South Korea and Uruguay finished with the same record (1-1-1) in Group H, but South Korea advanced on goals scored (4-2).
Portugal, which won the group despite the loss to South Korea, got on the board first on Ricardo Horta’s goal in the fifth minute. Young-Gwon Kim evened it at 1-1 in the 27th minute. In a tightly contested match, both teams had 13 shots, including six apiece on target.
South Korea advanced from group play for the first time since 2010 and only the third time in its history. The team will play Group G winner Brazil.
Portugal won its group for first time since 1996, when it reached the semifinals, and likely will face the winner of Serbia and Switzerland Group G game in the round of 16.
–Uruguay 2, Ghana 0
Competing with South Korea for the second spot in Group H, Uruguay needed to extend its two-goal lead in the final minutes, but it did not score again and was eliminated along with Ghana at Al Wakrah, Qatar.
Giorgian de Arrascaeta scored in the 26th and 32nd minutes for Uruguay, which failed to advance past group for the first time in four World Cup appearances.
Uruguay totaled 12 shots (seven on target), while Ghana finished with 10 shots (four on target). Ghana hasn’t advanced to the knockout round since 2010.
–Switzerland 3, Serbia 2
Remo Freuler scored the go-ahead goal in the 48th minute to allow Switzerland to defeat Serbia in Doha, Qatar, and advance to the Round of 16 for the third straight World Cup.
Switzerland finished second in Group G, tied with Brazil with six points but behind on the goal differential tiebreaker.
The Chicago Fire’s Xherdan Shaqiri struck first for the Swiss with a goal in the 20th minute, but Serbia fought back to take a 2-1 lead thanks to goals by Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic.
Breel Embolo tied the match 2-2 for Switzerland in the 44th minute before Freuler’s score three minutes after halftime.
Vanja Milinkovic-Savic made four saves for Serbia, which placed last in the group with one point.
–Cameroon 1, Brazil 0
Vincent Aboubakar’s goal in the second minute of second-half stoppage time was enough to hand Cameroon a 1-0 win over favorite Brazil in Lusail, Qatar.
Due to Switzerland’s victory, it wasn’t enough for Cameroon (four points) to advance to the Round of 16.
Brazil, which won Group B despite the result, outshot Cameroon 21-7, including 7-3 in shots on target. But Cameroon goalkeeper Devis Epassy stopped all seven shots he faced.
Aboubakar was shown his second yellow card of the day for excessive celebration after his goal and was sent off.
–Field Level Media
