Germany struggled to get the better of an energetic Guinean side, but came away with a 3-1 victory that sends them through to the Round of 16 at the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017.

Jann-Fiete Arp was again the key figure in attack for the Germans, scoring the opener and then setting up the winner near the hour mark for Nicolas Kuehn.

They finish second in Group C with six points and will meet Colombia in New Delhi on Monday, while the Guineans were unfortunate to lose on the day.

As a result, the Africans are eliminated at the opening hurdle.

Arp put the Europeans in front after just eight minutes when Dennis Jastrzembki won the ball in midfield and picked out the streaking Hamburg striker.

It was his second goal of the tournament, but Guinea’s Ibrahima Soumah answered with his second of the competition as well to equalise ahead of the half-hour mark.

It was very open match, and the two teams traded chances throughout the second half.

The Africans went behind to a quick counter-attack, in which Arp set up Kuehn, but they might have equalised a handful of times before Sahverdi Cetin converted a penalty in second-half stoppage time to put the match out of reach.