Brazil made a huge statement in their quest for a sixth World Cup title by beating South Korea 4-1 in the round of 16.
The Selecao are seeking their first World Cup trophy since Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho won glory in 2002 and their first-half performance at Stadium 974 deserved to be part of that dynasty.
Pele, who posted a message of support from his Twitter account saying he would be watching from his hospital bed, recognized something of the wonder of Brazil’s game the moment Vinicius Jr found the opener in the seventh minute.
Neymar returned from his knee injury to convert a penalty in the 13th minute, while Richarlison and Lucas Paqueta also entered the game before half-time. Paik Seung-ho ensured that the spectacular goals were not limited to Brazil, but it was a performance that scared quarter-final opponents Croatia and the rest of the teams in Qatar.
Rafinha was a live wire presence on the right wing all night and brilliantly crafted the opener. After leaving Hwang In-beom on his backside and exchanging passes with Casemiro, the Barcelona winger cut the ball back for Vinicius, who was undeterred by a group of players in the goalmouth and into the net.
Kim Young-gwan made minimal contact but maximum clumsiness to challenge Richarlison and Neymar turned home his penalty from the spot after outfoxing Kim Seung-gyu.
Korean goalkeeper Kim made good saves on both sides of the half, but he could not do anything when Richarlison scored in the 29th minute.
The Tottenham forward briefly engaged in one-man head tennis before dummying Marquinhos’ pass to centre-back Thiago Silva. The Chelsea veteran then put a perfectly weighted pass on the plate for Richarlison.
Another sweeping team move saw Vinicius powerfully smash home a cross for Paqueta.
Correa stuck to his act after the break and benefited from a testimonial sensation in the closing stages, with Brazil’s third-choice goalkeeper Weverton replacing Alisson. The Liverpool number 1 made a great save from Hwang Hee-chan but had no chance when substitute Pike scored from 25 yards.
It remains to be seen if anyone will get a chance against Brazil.
Brazil vs South Korea Score
| Team | 1H | 2H | Final |
| Brazil | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| South Korea | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Goals:
BRA — Vinicius Junior — 7th min
BRA — Neymar —13th min
BRA — Richarlison — 29th min
BRA — Paqueta — 37th min
KOR — Paik Seung-ho — 76th min
Lineup:
Brazil (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. Alison (GK) – 14. Adder Militao, 4. Marquinhos, 3. Silva, 2. Danilo — 5. Casemiro, 7. Bag – 11. Rafinha, 10. Neymar, 20. Vinicius Jr. – 9. Richarlison
South Korea (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. Kim Seung-Gyu (GK) – 15. Kim Moon-hwan, 4. Kim Min-jae, 19. Kim Young-gon, 3. Kim Jin-soo – 5. Jung Woo-young, 6. Hwang In-beom – 11. Hwang Hee-chan, 10. Lee Jae-sung, 7. Sun Heung-min – 9. Cho Goe-sung
Brazil vs. South Korea from the 2022 World Cup
Full Time: That’s a wrap on Stadium 974, which will soon be demolished. In this respect, South Korea played a fitting role in this tournament as a brilliant Brazil tore them to pieces. All remaining teams in quarterfinal opponents Croatia and Qatar are on notice. Thanks for joining us!
90th minute, Hwang Hae-chan bounded into the Brazilian box and thrashed over. A goal would be well-earned as he didn’t stop to rage against an unsafe situation.
89th minute: Martinelli gets to the byline and stands on the cross. Alves is there with a brilliant scissor kick but it backfires.
88th minute: Raphinha just doesn’t stop. He’s right down on his bike again. Kim Young-gwan’s head is clear. His exam is almost over.
81st minute: Ah, now we’re in testimonial mode. Brazil are bringing in third-choice goalkeeper Waverton for Alisson. Rodrigo also comes for Neymar.
80th minute: Oh, wait! Cho Gu-sung went through on goal and Allison made a good save. Turns out he was just offside, but Brazil need to wake up a bit.
76th minute: GOOOOOAAAAALL!!!!!!! Paik Seung-ho!!!!!
It’s on!!! I joke, but that’s Paik Seung-ho’s expensive goal. Brazil cleared the free-kick in the half and Pike hammered the option from 25 yards. Alison was probably a little out of sight but he had done well to get anywhere near it with a good view.
72nd minute: Tite continues to make changes, Bremer and Martinelli for Danilo and Vinicius.
67th minute: As good as Brazil have been, they still need Alisson to be at his best. The Liverpool number one once again reacts sharply to keep out another strong Hwang Hee-chan effort.
65th minute: Left back Kim Jin-soo came on at half-time and was replaced by Hong Chul. At least, I think he was. Has anyone seen Hong? Because Richarlison was the latest Brazil player to merrily weave his way into the left-wing side of Korea’s defence. Finally there was an offside flag.
63rd minute: Eder Militao is yellow carded from the group stage so Tite takes the Real Madrid defender off the field and sends on veteran Dani Alves.
62nd minute, Neymar stepped in and passed to Rafinha. It’s another good save from Kim Seung-gyu, who may be concerned that his defenders are spending too much time watching his duel with Rafinha at this point.
58th minute: Rafinha convinces Neymar to let him go. It bounces back over the top of the wall and Brazil’s short corner routine comes to nothing.
57th minute: Missing it all is an outrageous Brazil freekick goal. Well, they have a central one, about 30 yards out…
54th minute: South Korea are 4-0 down and their best player is their goalkeeper. Kim Seung-gyu again denied a twist and turn Raphinha. Vinicius is there to follow up but his strike is parried back.
50th minute: Errrr, that’s some pass from Casemiro, sweeping Rafinha down the right. The Barcelona winger’s cross is blocked, bounced back at him and it’s a goal kick.
47th minute: Chance at the other end. Son Heung-min puts Maquinhos at fault and fires a trademark shot towards the far post. Allison makes herself big and that’s a great save.
46th minute: We’re out again and, within half a minute, Raphinha is sauntering into the Korea box but Kim Seung-gyu shoots too close. Glad to see you cleared your heads, guys!
Halftime: Okay, good. That’s one hell of a statement from Brazil. You’d think they’d take a chance to rest in the second period. If not, it can be absolutely any score.
45th minute+4: Good grief, what on earth are they doing? South Korea’s defense already went into halftime. Richarlison is allowed to go in from the right unchallenged, straight through goal. Kim Seung-gyu manages to save with his right boot.
45th min+2: Off again for Brazil. Vinicius is in charge again and fires a dangerous ball across the face of goal. Raphinha whispered, shaking her shoes. A headed finish seemed like a good bet.
45th min+1: Rafinha makes a lovely pass to Paqueta and it should be 5-0. Kim Seung-gyu has a rare moment of success, repeating a tame stab attempt. He shouldn’t have had the chance.
43rd minute: South Korea try to get their hands on two attacking chances but the problem with this Brazil team is that they have really good centre-backs. The hopeful balls in the box are the meat and drink the maquinhos.
37th minute: GOOOOAALLLLLL!!!!! Paqueta!!!!!
Another great goal of Brazil! South Korea clearly didn’t break the notion of damage limitation, leaving themselves behind 4 vs. 4. Vinicius dangles a delicate chipped cross and a superb Paqueta volley crashes home.
34th minute, Casemiro fires a long-range effort wide of the goal. It would be a long 10 minutes or so until halftime for South Korea, completely overwhelmed and looking out of their depth.
29th minute: GOOOAAAAALLL!!!! Richarlison!!!!!
Beautiful, beautiful football. Whole Jogo Bonito. Paqueta starts on the right. Casemiro pushed the pass forward and Richarlison did a bit of one-man head tennis. The move continued and the Tottenham forward dummyed McQuinho’s pass to Thiago Silva (yes, two centre-backs). Silva scored his third goal of the tournament with a superb ball past Richarlison.
27th minute: Neymar drives through the heart of Korea’s defence. Vinicius is screaming for the ball on his left but uses him as a decoy, eventually winning a corner which is nil.
26th minute: Hwang Hee-chan lines up another speculative effort but it’s more direct for Allison to gather.
23rd minute: Son Heung-min gives a slightly petulant foul. Understandable frustration for the Korean star and his teammates seems to be caught in two minds, stunned by what has unfolded so far. Brazil are by no means under pressure, yet are able to play through their opponents – especially downfield – with ease.
16th minute: Not far from Hwang Hee-chan. In the Portugal game, the South Korean hero takes aim from 25 yards and has to be at full stretch to tip Alisson over. It looks like it will take something special to get Paulo Bento’s side back into the game. They had almost only from Huang.
13th minute: GOOOOAAALLLLLL!!!!!!! Neymar!!!!!!
Kim Seung-gyu almost placed himself next to his right-hand post as he waited to take Neymar before turning it into the centre. Neymar equalized with his move as he dribbled past the Korean goalkeeper into the bottom right corner.
11th minute: Penalty to Brazil ! Oh dear oh dear, South Korea. Richarlison takes control of a long ball on the left-hand edge of the area. Kim Young-gwan hacks at the ball, misses and fouls him. In fact, he didn’t seem to get much of Richarlison, but there would be no Monitor review. Take Neymar.
7th minute: GOOOOOAAAAALLLL!!!!!! Vinicius Junior !!!!!!
Great stuff from Brazil. Raphinha’s second involvement is a huge improvement on his first as he jinks inside, leaves Hwang In-beom behind him, exchanges with Casemiro and darts into the penalty area. The winner passes to Vinicius, who takes a fine touch and makes light of the traffic on the goalline to finish in majestic fashion.
4th minute: Not much happening in the attacking sense so far. To that end, Rafinha attempts a forced pass to clump Pasveta out for a goal kick. One he would like to forget.
2 minutes from kickoff: Both anthems played enthusiastically by the players. Do it now!
Brazil vs South Korea lineup, team news
Brazil fans will be delighted with the news that Neymar and Danilo are back in the picture after striking in the opener. But that will be slightly offset by the absence of forward Gabriel Jesus and left-back Alex Telles, who are unavailable due to knee injuries. Brazil will also be without Alex Sandro, who is dealing with a hip problem, according to Brazilian media.
With both natural left-backs sitting out – Alex Sandro and Alex Telles – it is expected that coach Tite will play right-back Danilo in the left-back position.
Brazil (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. Alison (GK) – 14. Adder Militao, 4. Marquinhos, 3. Silva, 2. Danilo — 5. Casemiro, 7. Bag – 11. Rafinha, 10. Neymar, 20. Vinicius Jr. – 9. Richarlison
South Korea coach Paulo Bento will have an option on the right wing with the return of World Cup hero Hwang Hae-chan, whose stoppage-time heroics have the Koreans here. He will be given a start in all group games alongside other teammates.
Napoli defender Kim Min-jae sat out the last match through injury, but is expected to return for the big game, which could see the Koreans return to the quarter-finals for the first time since 2002.
South Korea (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. Kim Seung-Gyu (GK) – 15. Kim Moon-hwan, 4. Kim Min-jae, 19. Kim Young-gon, 3. Kim Jin-soo – 5. Jung Woo-young, 6. Hwang In-beom – 11. Hwang Hee-chan, 10. Lee Jae-sung, 7. Sun Heung-min – 9. Cho Goe-sung