Vinicius Junior (7th), Neymar (13th/penalty), Richarlison (29th) and Lucas Paqueta (36th) scored the goals for the “Selecao”, who were superior in all respects, especially before the change of sides, and who earned their reputation as tournament favorites underpinned. Paik Seung-ho scored the consolation goal for the “Taeguk Warriors” in the 76th minute. Immediately following the final whistle, South Korea’s team boss Paulo Bento announced his retirement.
The series of goals was opened by Vinicius Junior. The Real Madrid attacker was successful following a cross from Raphinha with a well-considered shot. This was followed by Neymar’s big performance. Brazil’s big star easily rolled a penalty into the net to make it 2-0 on his comeback following recovering from an ankle injury, now has seven World Cup goals and is just one goal behind the Brazilian record holder Pelé following his 76th international goal. Before the penalty kick, Richarlison had been fouled by Jung Woo-Young.
The Brazilians’ 3-0 deserved the title “particularly worth seeing”. Richarlison headed the ball around Hwang In-beom and laid it down for Marquinhos, who in turn used Thiago Silva. The captain played right into Richarlison’s run and the Tottenham striker completed in a commanding manner. At 4:0, Vinicius Junior hit a cross on Paqueta with a lot of overview, which the midfielder volleyed.
Just before the half-time whistle, Paqueta and Richarlison were denied by South Korean goalie Kim Seung-gyu, and the goalkeeper was also there for the first Brazilian chance following Raphinha restarted (54′). Before that, Brazil’s Alisson had excelled in Son Heung-min’s top chance (47′). In the first half, the Liverpool keeper only had to stretch when ex-Salzburg professional Hwang Hee-chan shot (17th).
After the change of sides, the game developed into a better training session for Brazil. The five-time world champion let the ball and opponents run, saved energy and even allowed himself to come on as a substitute for 39-year-old Dani Alves. There was no final effort, and Brazil only became dangerous on one occasion from Raphinha, which Kim Seung-gyu thwarted (62′). At the other end, Alisson kept his goal clean with a brilliant save from a shot by Hwang Hee-chan (68′).
Eight minutes later the keeper was beaten when a deflected long-range shot by substitute Paik found its way into the goal. However, there was no denying the Brazilians’ clear success, even if the five-time world champions missed their highest World Cup win since beating China 4-0 in the 2002 finals. After all, the “Selecao” equaled their record for the highest half-time lead set once morest Mexico in 1954.