Friday June 25th

Group G

Elephants leave with a win

Ivory Coast 3 North Korea 0 (Nelspruit)
Ivory Coast ended their adventure in South Africa with an easy win over North Korea. Yaya Toure sent Keita through on goal after only 45 seconds but the keeper blocked his effort and in the 10th minute Gervinho pulled the ball back from the by-line across the goal-line but there were no takers. Two minutes later Gervinho showed skill to get into the box but Ri Myong Guk saved his tame shot, but the goal finally arrived in the 14th minute when Yaya Toure received the ball on the 18-yard line and placed it into the bottom right corner. In the 17th minute Romaric whipped the ball in from the right and saw it come off the far post and 3 minutes later Drogba took the ball down beautifully and smashed it against the underside of the bar for Romaric to head in. A vicious volley from Keita flew over the bar in the 31st minute and 6 minutes later Gervinho's shot across goal was just wide. North Korea had a shot on goal when Jong Tae Se ran at the defence in the 53rd minute but Barry got down to gather. Drogba flung himself but headed wide in the 56th minute and with 9 minutes left Solomon Kalou got on the end of a cross to steer the ball in for the third.

Group G

Bore draw sees Portugal through

Portugal 0 Brazil 0 (Durban)

Brazil and Portugal played out a goalless draw to progress safely into the next round. Half an hour into the match Luis Fabiano found Nilmar at the far stick but Eduardo pushed his effort onto the post and 8 minutes later Luis Fabiano headed wide from 7 yards out. A Ronaldo run on the hour resulted in the ball crossing the face of goal for Meireles to knock wide and in stoppage time Eduardo saved a deflected shot from Josue.

Group H

Spain hold on to win

Spain 2 Chile 1 (Pretoria)

In danger of elimination, Spain rallied to a 2-1 win over Chile to claim top spot in their group. Chile started well and in the 10th minutes Beausejour squared the ball to Mark Gonzalez in the box but he slipped and missed his target by miles, while a chip from Sanchez 4 minutes later had Casillas worried. In the 24th minute Bravo came racing out of his goal to tackle Torres but the ball reached Villa who conquered the empty goal from 45 yards, and 10 minutes later at the other end Beausejour ran into the box but Pique got a touch to his shot. Spain doubled their lead in the 37th minute when Villa passed the ball to Iniesta who side-footed it in from just inside the box while at the same time Estrado was adjudged to have tripped Torres and was dismissed for a second yellow. Chile pulled a goal back 2 minutes after the break when Millar found the net with a deflected shot from 20 yards and after that the match died down with Torres coming closest in the 63rd minute but being denied by a last-ditch tackle from Ponce. The result takes both teams through.

Group H

Sterile draw sends Swiss home

Switzerland 0 Honduras 0 (Bloemfontein)

Switzerland exited the World Cup after failing to beat Honduras despite having beaten Spain in their first match. Derdiyok's diving header in the 17th minute bounced and went wide and a beautiful cross by Derdiyok in the 42nd minute reached the far post where Nkufo failed to make the correct connection. Honduras had a good chance in the 53rd minute but Suazo sent his glancing header wide. Benaglio made a brilliant save in the 71st minute to deny Alvarez with his left hand. The match ended in a goalless draw sending both teams home.