Five-time winners Brazil edged past Switzerland 1-0 thanks to a late strike from Casemiro to earn their second consecutive win of the tournament.

After struggling for rhythm in the opening half at the Stadium 974 in Doha, Brazil thought they had taken the lead in the Group G clash in the 65^th minute but Vinicius Junior had a goal ruled out due to an offside in the build-up.

The breakthrough eventually came for Brazil with seven minutes of normal time remaining as Casemiro swept home a strike from inside the penalty area to secure Brazil the win and progress to the last-16.

Portugal also secured their place in the knockout stages thanks to a double from Bruno Fernandes as they beat Uruguay 2-0 at the Lusail Stadium in Group H.

Fernandes’ first came in the 54^th minute as he scored directly from a cross, before his second came in added time at the end of the game from the penalty spot, as he rolled the ball in after Jose Maria Gimenez was penalised for an unintended handball inside the penalty area.

Fernandes had a chance for a hat-trick soon after but his shot hit the post, although by this point Portugal had done enough to seal the win and progression.

Elsewhere in Group H Ghana put themselves right in the mix to qualify with a 3-2 win over South Korea in one of the most entertaining games of the tournament so far.

The Black Stars took the lead at the Al Rayyan Stadium in the 24^th minute when Mohammed Salisu finished from close range following a Jordan Ayew free-kick.

Ten minutes later Mohammed Kudus doubled Ghana’s advantage when he flicked in a cross from Ayew.  

In the second half Cho Guesung scored a quickfire brace to bring South Korea level, with two headed goals in the space of 168 seconds making the scoreline 2-2.

The third goal in a ten-minute spell proved to be the winner with Kudus netting his second of the game to clinically restore Ghana’s lead and seal a win that moves them into second place in the group heading into the final fixtures on Friday (December 2).

There were also plenty of goals in the other game in Group G with Cameroon and Serbia sharing the spoils in a six-goal thriller at the Al Janoub Stadium.

The scoring started on the half-hour mark when Jean Charles-Castelletto finished from a corner to give Cameroon the lead 1-0.

Cameroon spurned chances to extend their lead and were made to pay when Serbia struck twice in added time at the end of the first half.

Strahinja Pavlovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic netted in the space of a few minutes and Serbia headed into the dressing rooms with a 2-1 lead.

Aleksandar Mitrovic, who had hit the post in the first half, finished a flowing team move to make it 3-1 to Serbia early in the second period.

The Indomitable Lions came roaring back at their opponents with Vincent Aboubakar scooping the ball into the net to reduce the deficit in the 63^rd minute.

Three minutes later Aboubakar turned provider setting up Eric Maxime Choupo-Moting to make it 3-3, a result that saw both sides get off the mark in the tournament.

The final round of matches are due to take place in Groups A and B tomorrow, with Netherlands and Ecuador jointly leading Group A on four points and England top of Group B, also on four, although across the two groups only hosts Qatar are already eliminated.