Borussia Dortmund secured first place in Group F and a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup knockout stages with a tense 1-0 victory over Ulsan HD. This was Ulsan HD's fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions since 2018.

Niko Kovač’s team knew that avoiding defeat would secure their place in the next round, and unsurprisingly dominated possession under the hot Cincinnati sun.

Nevertheless, Ulsan goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo appeared at ease until he was compelled to make an impressive one-handed save to thwart Serhou Guirassy.

Moments later, Jude Bellingham should have found the target with a right-footed volley, but the former Sunderland player instead shot over the bar.

Bellingham was at the heart of the action, first seeing an attempt blocked before sliding a strike wide.

However, the breakthrough finally came in the 36th minute courtesy of Daniel Svensson. Bellingham teed up the Swede, who took a touch before clinically firing past Jo.

It was the very least that Kovac’s side deserved. Jo denied Pascal Groß a second goal with a stunning save with his left leg. The Ulsan keeper pulled off another superb save before half-time, tipping Guirassy’s header over the bar to keep the deficit at one.

Shortly after the restart, Kim Pan-gon’s side had their first shot of the match when Kang Sang-woo forced Gregor Kobel into a routine save at the end of a rare foray forward.

Dortmund then wasted another chance, with Ramy Bensebaini heading over from Svensson’s cross. Ulsan posed a much greater threat in the second half, with Kobel being tested again by Lee Jin-hyun’s shot from a tight angle.

BVB aimed to kill off the contest late on, but Jo refused to be beaten again, thwarting Yan Couto to become Dortmund’s nemesis once more.

It was a fine performance from the Tigers' keeper and will undoubtedly go down as one of the best individual displays at the tournament.

Nevertheless, it was Kovac’s team who claimed all three points and will play the runners-up from Group E in Atlanta next Tuesday.