Groups C and D of the FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019™ drew to a close on Saturday with some exciting matches that saw a slew of teams qualify for the Round of 16.

In the afternoon, Korea Republic defeated Chile to secure second spot in Group C. La Rojita, who finished third, then had to wait until the evening’s Group D game between Netherlands and United States, and hope that the Dutch did not score a large number of goals.

In the end the Oranje triumphed 4-0, which meant that both teams had identical records in all tiebreaker criteria except fair play points, a category in which the South Americans came out on top. The Dutch, with three points and a goal difference of -1, will now have to wait for Sunday’s slate of matches to see if they have done enough to advance as one of the best-placed third teams.

Meanwhile, France topped Group C by getting the better of Haiti, and Japan leapfrogged Senegal to win Group D, courtesy of a goal by Jun Nishikawa.

All these results had the knock-on effect of indirectly qualifying Spain and Argentina (Group E), as well as Paraguay (Group F), for the next round. USA and Haiti are now officially eliminated.

Group C [[flag-hai-xs]] Haiti 0-2 France [[flag-fra-xs]] (Goiania/Serrinha, 17:00 local time) [[flag-chi-xs]] Chile 1-2 Korea Republic [[flag-kor-xs]] (Vitoria/Cariacica, 17:00 local time)

Group D [[flag-sen-xs]] Senegal 0-1 Japan [[flag-jpn-xs]] (Vitoria/Cariacica, 20:00 local time) [[flag-ned-xs]] Netherlands 4-0 United States [[flag-usa-xs]] (Goiania/Serrinha, 20:00 local time)

Precocious Paik There were only 51 seconds on the clock when Paik Sanghoon opened the scoring for the Koreans against Chile. Lurking just outside the box, the No19 pounced on a loose ball and placed a firm shot – aided by a deflection – past Chilean goalkeeper Julio Fierro. The goal is the fastest so far of Brazil 2019, and the fifth fastest in the history of the tournament. The quickest-ever goal was recorded by Brazil’s Fabinho, who scored after just nine seconds at the 2007 U-17 World Cup.

Heroics from Hansen The Netherlands were in a difficult position ahead of their match with USA, but a great performance from Sontje Hansen gave them a fighting chance. The attack-minded No7 notched a brace, registered an assist, and even earned a penalty, which was unfortunately missed by his team-mate Kenneth Taylor.

Rutter hits a century Georginio Rutter wrote his name into the Brazil 2019 history books in Goiania, scoring the 100th goal of the tournament from the spot. The Brittany native’s penalty put France 1-0 up over Haiti, and he sealed his team’s victory with a header just one minute later.

3 November

Group E [[flag-cmr-xs]] Cameroon-Spain [[flag-esp-xs]] (Brasilia/Gama, 17:00 local time) [[flag-arg-xs]] Argentina-Tajikistan [[flag-tjk-xs]] (Vitoria/Cariacica, 17:00 local time)

Group F [[flag-ita-xs]] Italy-Paraguay [[flag-par-xs]] (Brasilia/Gama, 20:00 local time) [[flag-mex-xs]] Mexico-Solomon Islands [[flag-sol-xs]] (Vitoria/Cariacica, 20:00 local time)