Midfielder Mohammed Kudus bagged a brace on Monday as Ghana baffled and ultimately battled to a pulsating 3-2 victory over South Korea at the Education City Stadium in Doha.
South Korea were all over Ghana in the opening 20 minutes of their Group H game forcing seven corners as their intricate passing threatened reward.
But just after the half hour, Kudus was on the scoresheet. Jordan Ayew swung over a cross from the left and the Ajax midfielder trotted in between Jin-Su Kim and Young-Gwon Kim to glance a header past goalkeeper Seung-Gyu Kim.
The Black Stars, however, threw away a two goal lead following a second goal form Southampton defender Mohammed Salisu in a very quick succession, but Mohammed Qudus scored the wining goal late on.
With the defeat, South Korea’s destiny was taken out of their hands. To progress, they will have to hope Portugal and Uruguay draw in Monday night’s late game and then bank on Uruguay beating Ghana while they see off the Cristiano Ronaldo show in the final phase of Group H games on 2 December.
In the early game in Group G at the Al Janoub Stadium, Cameroon came from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with Serbia.
The top two – Brazil and Switzerland – meet on Monday night at the Stadium 974.