🏆 Switzerland progress after Serbia thriller; Cameroon beat Brazil | OneFootball

The group stages came to a conclusion tonight with the final knockout spots sealed.

Here’s what went down.

Shaqiri inspires Swiss to knockout rounds

Scorers: Mitrović 27′, Vlahović 35′; Shaqiri 20′, Embolo 45′, Freuler 48′.

Switzerland booked their place in the last-16 of the World Cup after coming from behind to beat Serbia in a frantic game in Doha.

There were four goals in an action-packed first half alone as both sides took turns being ahead.

Xherdan Shaqiri gave the Swiss the lead inside the opening 20 minutes with a powerful low deflected shot from close range but two goals in eight minutes from Serbia flipped the game on its head.

Aleksandar Mitrović pulled his team level with a header from Dušan Tadić’s cross before the Ajax man was involved again for the second, poking the ball into the path of Dušan Vlahović to strike a left-footed shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

But there was one last twist in the half as Switzerland then levelled proceedings in the closing stages with Shaqiri turning creator this time to drill a low cross to the back post for Breel Embolo to tap home.

The decisive moment came just three minutes into the second half as Switzerland struck the decisive blow through a well-crafted team move.

Shaqiri’s chipped pass found Ruben Vargas who flicked it into the path of Remo Freuler to drill the ball into the bottom corner.

Switzerland progress to the last-16 for the third tournament in a row ahead of Serbia who finish bottom of the group.

Brazil seal top spot despite Cameroon loss

Scorers: Aboubakar 90+3′.

Vincent Aboubakar scored a stunning stoppage-time winner to pull off a shock victory for Cameroon over Brazil.

A much-changed Brazil never really got out of second gear in the game but Gabriel Martinelli, making a first start for his country impressed, coming close with a header in the 17th minute which was well saved by Devis Espassy.

Brazil did concede a shot on target for the first time this tournament late in the first half as Cameroon came close to breaking the deadlock with Bryan Mbuemo’s header but a finger-tip save from Ederson kept them at bay.

Butt they did more than that in the 93rd minute as Cameroon earned an incredible win, when Jerome Mbekeli’s whipped cross was met by the head of Abouakar and found its way rustling into the net.

Abouakar was then sent off after receiving a second yellow card for taking his shirt off in the celebration for his goal.

It was a historic win for Cameroon but not enough to book qualification or take spot from Brazil, who have set up a last-16 tie with South Korea.

Uruguay eliminated despite victory over Ghana

Scorers: De Arrascaeta 26′, 32′

Giorgian de Arrascaeta’s double was enough to give Uruguay the win over Ghana but they were eliminated from the World Cup at the benefit of South Korea.

André Ayew was presented with a golden opportunity to score from the spot after Mohammed Kudus was brought down in the penalty area, however, the 32-year-old’s effort was tame and easily kept out by Sergio Rochet.

Uruguay’s response was immediate with Darwin Núñez testing Lawrence Ati-Zigi before De Arrascaeta’s quick-fire brace fired Diego Alonso’s side ahead.

Found in the penalty area, Luis Suárez forced a good save from Ati-Zigi but de Arrascaeta reacted quickest to turn in the rebound before the same pair combined again minutes later with the Flamengo forward’s volley bursting the back of the net.

Ghana struggled to gain control of the match in the second period and were limited to chances from range as Kudus continued to look threatening but, at the other end, controversy would reign as VAR denied Uruguay a penalty.

Núñez looked like he had beaten Daniel Amartey to the ball but, after an on-field review, the referee deemed that the Leicester player had not fouled the Liverpool forward and stuck with his on-field decision.

A decision that would prove costly for Uruguay who were eliminated on goals scored after South Korea came from behind to beat Portugal.

Stoppage-time winner seals South Korea’s place

Scorers: Kim Young-gwon 27′, Hwang Hee-chan 90+1′; Horta 5′

South Korea booked their place in the last-16 in dramatic circumstances after Hwang-Hee-chan’s winner completed a remarkable comeback.

Ricardo Horta, starting his first-ever World Cup game, gave Portugal an early lead. Diogo Dalot was released down the right wing and penetrated into the penalty area before pulling the ball back to the onrushing Horta to stroke home from close range.

South Korea got themselves level just before the half-hour mark as, after Portugal made a mess of dealing with a corner, the ball broke loose in the six-yard area and Kim Young-gwon reacted quickest to put the ball in the back of the net.

Portugal’s dominance and control of the encounter persisted in the second period as South Korea pushed for the go-ahead goal that would’ve blown the group wide open.

As the clock ticked towards the final minutes of the game Paulo Bento’s side seemed destined for elimination, lacking in composure in the final third of the field until, from a Portugal corner, South Korea broke at pace.

Son carried the ball the entire length of the field and, surrounded by a sea of white Portugal shirts, fed the ball through the eye of the needle for Wolves forward Hee-chan who cooly slotted the ball under the onrushing Diogo Costa.

They had to wait for 10 minutes for the conclusion of the Uruguay game to find out whether they would be making it through but celebrations persisted in the centre-circle after it was revealed South Korea’s journey would continue.