Germany beat Guinea 3-1, Iran blank Costa Rica

Germany scored through Jan-Fiete Arp (8th minute), Nicolas Kuehn (62nd) and Sahverdi Cetin (90+2), while Ibrahima Soumah got the lone goal for Guinea in the 26th minute in the final Group C match at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium.

Germany, who had lost to Iran 0-4 in their previous match, finished second in the group with six points and qualified for the Round of 16. They face Colombia, who finished second in Group A, in the Round of 16 match in New Delhi on October 16. Iran, who beat Costa Rica 3-0 in another group match in Goa on Thursday, topped the pool with nine points and an all-win record. Guinea and Costa Rica were knocked out of the tournament with a point each.

In an open match, Guinea had more possession of the ball with 55 percent and even had more shots, but most of them were off the target. The African side had just two shots on target. Germany had 17 attempts at the Guinea goal but out of them eight were on target.

German captain Arp, who recently made his Bundesliga debut for Hamburg, gave his side an early lead as he fired in a low shot past the goalkeeper after a Guinea defender made a blunder.

Guinea restored parity in the 26th minute with Soumah finding the target with his left-footed shot. Germany pressed hard towards the close of the first session but Guinea goalkeeper was upto the task.

Iran blanked Costa Rica 3-0 to top Group C with an all-win record in the FIFA U-17 World Cup here on Friday. Iran had already secured a place in the Round of 16 with wins over Guinea and Germany.

In their final group engagement at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the Asian nation scored through Mohammed Ghobeishavi (25th minute), Taha Shariati (29th) and Mohammad Sardari (89th) to top the group with nine points from three matches.