Brazil's stunning exhibition of attacking genius to destroy South Korea and set up a quarterfinal match against Croatia sent a chilling message to their World Cup rivals. Neymar made his goal-scoring comeback from injury, but Brazil's superstar was only a small part of a devastating performance that destroyed South Korea and ended this round of 16 match well before halftime.
After seven minutes, Vinicius Jr. calmly finished Raphinha's cross in the penalty box to set the tone. Six minutes later, Neymar increased Brazil's lead from the spot after fouling Richarlison. Neymar scored his 76th goal for Brazil, putting him only one goal short of the legendary Pele's record.
When Richarlison followed up his breathtaking volley goal against Serbia with a true piece of art, he added to his personal highlight reel of World Cup goals. He first controlled the ball three times with his head and foot before advancing into position to accept Thiago Silva's pass and score. After 36 minutes, Vinicius found Lucas Paqueta for West Ham's high-priced acquisition to score with a perfectly placed volley as Brazil went up by four goals. Brazil will face Croatia in the Quarterfinals next.
To their great credit, South Korea maintained their competitiveness and forced three excellent saves from Brazil goalkeeper Alisson before replacement Paik Seung-ho added another spectacular goal to the evening's special goal total with a magnificent 30-yard strike.