Brazil delivered arguably the best performance of the Qatar World Cup so far as they struck four first-half goals in a 4-1 demolition of South Korea in Monday evening’s one-sided last-16 clash.

The Selecao had suffered a surprise defeat to Cameroon in their final group game as manager Tite fielded a second-string XI, but they reverted to their first-choice line-up at Stadium 974 and laid down a marker to reassert their credentials as pre-tournament favourites.

It took just seven minutes for Vinicius Junior to open the scoring, collecting Raphinha’s low cross and calmly stroking the ball past a horde of red shirts and into the top corner.

Just a few minutes later Brazil doubled their lead after Richarlison was brought down inside the box with Neymar – who recovered from injury in time to start the match – rolling the resulting penalty past Kim Seung-gyu.

Just before the half-hour mark it was Richarlison’s turn to get in on the act, starting and finishing an outstanding move to prompt yet more jubilant scenes – and even a pigeon celebration from Tite – before West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta finished off another excellent move to make it four not long after.

The second half was a rather tamer affair and it took a smart stop from Alisson to prevent Son Heung-min from pulling a goal back shortly after the restart, though South Korea did get a late consolation goal after a brilliant strike from Paik Seung-ho.

By that point Tite had already started to shuffle his pack and protect some of his stars – with third-choice keeper Weverton even subbed on – and Brazil will now face Croatia in the quarter-final on Friday.

However, the almost flawless Selecao elicited scathing criticism from former England midfielder Roy Keane, who tore the Brazil team for dancing after scoring against South Korea.

This is after five-time champions raced into a 4-0 lead at half-time and danced in celebration after every goal. Manager Tite even got involved after Richarlison ran over to the dugout after scoring Brazil’s third goal.

However, Keane was not pleased as he could not understand the players’ antics and likened it to an episode of Strictly Come Dancing. He said on ITV’s coverage of the match: “I can’t believe what I’m watching. Obviously brilliant, brilliant by Brazil.

• A Tell/Football365/Metro report