Wednesday saw the end of the group stage of the men’s Olympic tournament in Tokyo. Many goals, serious contenders and surprise eliminations are the balance of this first round.
Reigning champions Brazil made it clear they want to defend their gold and defeated Saudi Arabia 3-1 to finish top of Group D.
In the same group, Ivory Coast surprised everyone and earned a valuable 1-1 draw against Germany to advance to the quarter-finals and eliminate the 2016 silver medallists.
In Group B, South Korea thrashed Honduras 6-0 to qualify first, while New Zealand drew 0-0 with Romania to take the second spot.
Hosts Japan crushed France 4-0 to become the only team to win all three of their group games. Real Madrid youngster Takefusa Kubo put in another strong performance and scored a goal.
On the other hand, Mexico passed a litmus test against South Africa and beat them 3-0 to qualify as runners-up in Group A.
Argentina were surprisingly eliminated after a 1-1 draw with Spain. The European team went through as top of Group C with five points, but the South American side failed to advance due to Egypt’s 2-0 win over Australia.
Japan v New Zealand, Spain v Ivory Coast, South Korea v Mexico and Brazil v Egypt will be the quarter-final duels.
