Uruguay, South Korea, US, Ghana eye last four

Uruguay, South Korea, the United States and Ghana were not tipped by many pundits to reach the last four at the World Cup, but Wednesday’s results mean that one of them is guaranteed to do so.

The United States secured top spot in Group C thanks to a last-ditch 1-0 win over Algeria, with Landon Donovan’s injury-time strike making sure they avoided a second-round clash with heavyweights Germany.

Bob Bradley’s side will instead meet Ghana, who became the first African side to make the last 16 despite going down 1-0 to Germany in their final Group D game.

South Korea’s 2-2 draw with Nigeria on Tuesday made sure they took second place in Group B behind Argentina.

The Asians’ reward is a meeting with Uruguay, who secured their grip on the Group A summit with a 1-0 defeat of Mexico on Tuesday.

Of the four unfancied sides, only Ghana have never made it to the last four at a World Cup before.

Uruguay won the inaugural trophy on home soil in 1930 before repeating the feat in 1950, although on the latter occasion they did not technically contest a semi-final because the tournament was decided by a four-man group phase.

La Celeste were also knocked out at the semi-final stage in 1954 and 1970.

The USA made it to the last four in 1930, where they were thrashed 6-1 by Argentina, and South Korea made a sensational run to the semi-finals as co-hosts in 2002 before their progress was halted by Germany.

Ghana’s best previous result at a World Cup was their elimination by Brazil in the last 16 at the 2006 tournament in Germany.