The goals were coming in hot on Day 2 at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup, and there was plenty of drama to go along with it.
[ MORE: Day 1 recap, including U.S. victory, at U-17 World Cup ]
Here’s a look at how the day’s matches went in Groups C and D.
Group C
Germany 2-1 Costa Rica
Noah Awuku played hero for the Germans on Saturday with this winner (below) in the 89th minute against Los Ticos. The European giants had gone ahead inside the opening half hour of the match through Jann-Fiete Arp, but Costa Rica responded with an equalizer to make it 1-1 in the 64th minute.
Iran 3-1 Guinea
A pair of second-half finishes and a red card from Guinea’s Mohamed Camara helped Iran pull away in this clash. Allahyar Sayyad gave the Iranians the lead just prior to the hour mark with a stunning blast from the edge of the penalty area (below), before Mohammad Sharifi’s penalty kick 11 minutes later sealed the deal for the AFC nation. Guinea managed to pull back a goal late through Fandje Toure in the 91st minute, which came a minute after Iran found its third of the day.
Group D
Brazil 2-1 Spain
It was a dream start for the Spanish (or a disaster if you’re Brazil), but Lincoln and Paulinho (nope, not that one) rescued the young Brazilian side late in the first half. Paulinho’s finish in first-half stoppage time (below) proved to be the winner, after being played through on a fantastic through ball from Marcos Antonio.
North Korea 0-1 Niger
For a game that only saw one goal, it was a pretty entertaining fixture from an action standpoint. The two sides combined for 36 shots, but it was just one from Salim Abdourahmane that found the back of the net and gave Niger its first win in the competition. It was a bad mistake defensively by Cha Kwang that allowed Habibou Sofiane to gather the ball, before finding Abdourahmane inside the penalty area.