Richarlison drives Brazil group win, Germany out in men's soccer

Richarlison celebrates after scoring Brazil's second goal against Saudi Arabia at Saitama Stadium on July 28, 2021 in Saitama. ((Photo By Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images))

Group D: Brazil, Cote d'Ivoire advance

Germany's tournament-opening loss to Brazil would prove decisive to the European powers if its star-studded lineup couldn't take all three points from Cote d'Ivoire on Wednesday.

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Benjamin Heinrichs' own goal with 23 minutes to play put Germany behind -- a marker celebrated by a front-flipping Youssouf Dao of Les Elephants.

Hertha Berlin's Eduard Lowen scored a gorgeous free kick but no match-winner would arrive in a 1-1 draw that eliminated the Germans.

The Brazilians beat Saudi Arabia 3-1, opened up a 1-0 lead through Hertha Berlin star Matheus Cunha's header off a corner kick.

SaudI Arabia had it level before the half-hour mark when Abdulelah Alamri nodded home off a free kick, but Everton star Richarlison scored twice in the second half to give Brazil three points and the Group D crown.

Brazil will meet the winner of Group C, while Cote d'Ivoire will meet Group C's runner-up.

Group B: South Korea fires top of group, New Zealand advances

Everyone in Group B entered the final day with a chance at the heights of a group title or the lows of a group stage exit, making Romania v New Zealand and South Korea v Honduras tense affairs.

At least to start.

A pair of first-half penalties seven minutes apart set South Korea up for comfort at a minimum as Won Du-jae and Hwang Ui-jo converted their spot-kicks to make it 2-0 after 19 minutes.

Ui-jo would add his second of the game in first-half stoppage time after Honduras' Carlos Melendez was sent off to take any drama out of the fixture, then completing a hat trick with a penalty after halftime as South Korea rolled to a 6-0 win over its 10-man opponents.

There were no such offensive fireworks in a scoreless draw between Romania and New Zealand, which is more than okay with Danny Hay's OlyWhites. New Zealand's fourth point moves it ahead of Honduras and Romania and into the knockout rounds.

New Zealand will meet the winner of Group A in the quarterfinals, while South Korea gets that group's runner-up.