With an impressive 4-1 victory over South Korea on Monday at Stadium 974, Brazil gave the finest performance of Qatar 2022 so far, setting up a quarterfinal matchup with Croatia.
In a one-sided affair, the Selecao went up by four goals in just 36 minutes, only the second time in their World Cup history that they have done so. After Vinicius Junior had opened the goal for Brazil in their 1-0 loss to Cameroon, Neymar made his way back into the starting lineup and scored from the penalty spot.
South Korea had no chance of regaining control of the match after goals from Richarlison and Lucas Paqueta, though they did have a moment to savor thanks to Paik.
After seven minutes, Raphinha sent the ball back for Vinicius to curl into the top-right corner, and Neymar quickly scored Brazil's second goal from the penalty spot. Richarlison was awarded that penalty after being fouled by Jung Woo-young, and he contributed to his own goals by converting after Thiago Silva had found him with a pinpoint pass.
By the half, Brazil was completely out of reach after Paqueta finished off another excellent attack that ended with Vinicius clipping the ball into his path for a volley goal.
After making two substitutions at the break, South Korea played better and scored through a long-range Paik shot that deflected after forcing Alisson into a few saves.
KEY POINTS? THE SAMBA STARS PERFORMED.
Brazil struggled for a significant portion of their victories over Serbia and Switzerland before shocking Cameroon, but here, back at full strength, they really put down a marker.
With Tite's team out of sight by halftime, South Korea's first knockout-stage match in this championship since 2010 could not have gone any worse. winning five times Brazil has won eight of their last 10 World Cup last-16 games, and they will now play Croatia, the 2018 losing finalist, who earlier defeated Japan on penalties.
BRAZIL IS ABLE TO SCORE GOALS.
In the group stage, Brazil's three goals from 57 shots were somewhat unimpressive compared to their three goals from their first five shots against South Korea.
Though their opponents' strategy also helped them out, the Selecao were much more ruthless than they were in the opening round—a mistake Croatia will undoubtedly not make.
INCLUDING NEYMAR AGAIN IN THE GOALS.
After missing the previous two games due to injury, Neymar returned to the lineup and scored his 76th goal for Brazil, leaving him one short of Pele's all-time record.
The star of Paris Saint-Germain, who has scored six of the Selecao's last seven goals from the penalty spot, will try to catch up to and topple the legend of Brazil in Qatar.
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