The World Cup last 16 will be complete on Friday with
France
needing to beat
Togo
convincingly to book their place in the knock-out stages and
Ukraine
and
Tunisia
locking horns in
Berlin
.
South Korea's Lee Woon-jae (R) speaks with France's Thierry Henry
France
team needs to beat the already-eliminated West Africans by at least two clear goals if they want to be sure of avoiding a repeat of their humiliating first-round exit in 2002.
"To be or not to be," said the front-page headline in French sports daily L'Equipe.
In the complex Group G,
South Korea
will also go through if they win against a rugged
Switzerland
, but if
France
wins, a draw will not be enough for the Asian side because the Swiss have a superior goal difference.
Thierry Henry, who has struggled again to reproduce his club form for his country, will be paired with David Trezeguet in the search for the priceless goals.
South Korea
is within reach of the last 16 as they seek to prove that their semi-final appearance in 2002 was more than a fluke.
Their Dutch coach Dick Advocaat was confident his players would take the simple route, avoiding the complicated scenarios which would arise if his match ended in a draw and
France
only wins by a single goal.
"We have got to win and will win," said Advocaat.
In the day's other matches, the positions in Group H will be settled as Saudi Arabia take on a Spain team that has already qualified and will rest many of its stars in preparation for the second round.
Andriy Shevchenko will hope to fire
Ukraine
into the second round with a victory over
Tunisia
in front of another packed house in
Berlin
's Olympic Stadium.
Thrashed 4-0 by Spain in their opener when Shevchenko was still rusty after an injury, the new
A South Korea fan poses before the Group G World Cup 2006 soccer match
Chelsea striker roared back to form in the second game, scoring once and driving Ukraine along as they crushed the Saudis 4-0.
Australia
sparked scenes of celebration back home as they reached the second round for the first time in their history after a battling 2-2 draw with
Croatia
on Thursday.
Brazil
meanwhile hit their stride with a 4-1 drubbing of
Japan
that sent the Asian champions home after a disappointing tournament but saw Ronaldo emphatically throw off the doubts over his form.
His two goals brought him level with
West Germany
's Gerd Muller as all-time top scorer in World Cup finals with 14 goals.