Tournament favorites Spain were surprisingly knocked out of the Olympics, after suffering their second-straight 1-0 defeat, as Brazil progressed to the quarterfinals with a 3-1 victory in the soccer event.
In other matches, Great Britain picked up their first win with a 3-1 result over the UAE, while Mexico beat Gabon and Senegal upset Uruguay. New Zealand and Egypt played out a 1-1 draw, as South Korea beat Switzerland.
It was Brazilian sensation Neymar who stole the show on Sunday, scoring a brilliant free-kick to give his team the lead, before putting the game to bed by notching up an assist, courtesy a back-heel.
Belarus, opened the scoring against the fancied Brazilians in their Group C encounter at Old Trafford, through Renand Bardini Bressan before AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato equalised for the South Americans, with a brilliantly taken header.
After that it was all about Neymar. With the Brazilians continually frustrated by the excellent Belarus defense, it needed a piece of magic from the Santos forward to break the tie; and the goal was well worth the wait.
The 20-year-old spanked a curling free-kick past goalkeeper Aleksandr Gutor to give the fancied team the advantage. The match was made safe when Neymar played in Oscar with a clever back-heel, for the Chelsea man to smash it into the back of the net.
In the day's other Group C game, Egypt were left to rue their missed chances as they settled for a 1-1 draw against New Zealand. NZ took the lead through Chris Wood in the 16th minute, before Mohamed Salah's equaliser at the end of the first half.
Egypt then created chance after chance, but a mixture of some desperate Kiwi defending and awful finishing, saw the match end 1-1.
In Group D, Spain ended their conquest of a World Cup, Euro, Olympic swing, with another 1-0 loss. Jerry Bengston scored the only goal of the game in the seventh minute, to send the favorites packing.
Japan, who beat Spain 1-0 in their opening match, took control of their group with a similar result against Morocco, thanks to an 84th minute strike from Kensuke Nagai.
In Group A, goals from Ryan Giggs, Scott Sinclair and Daniel Sturridge gave Great Britain maximum points. Giggs, 38, who opened the scoring for his side, became the oldest goal-scorer in Olympic history.
A brace from impressive teenager Moussa Konate helped Senegal upset Uruguay 2-0 to throw Group A wide open. GB and Senegal have four points each, while Uruguay are on three.
In Group B, two goals from Tottenham reject Giovanni Dos Santos gave Mexico a 2-0 win over Gabon while South Korea beat Switzerland 2-1 courtesy goals from Arsenal striker Park Ju-Young and Kim Bo-Kyung.
