Ronaldo scored his tournament-leading sixth goal four minutes after the interval and Brazil advanced to its third straight World Cup final, posting a 1-0 victory over Turkey.

After witnessing a month of upsets by non-traditional powers over long-established nations in Korea/Japan, the 2002 World Cup final will be contested between a pair of soccer giants -- four-time champion Brazil and three-time winner Germany -- on Sunday in Yokohama.

Except for 1978, Brazil or Germany have played in every World Cup final since World War II. However, the countries will square off in the championship match for the first time.

"I met (Germany coach Rudi) Voeller at the World Cup finals draw and it was a peculiar situation because both our teams had struggled to qualify," Brazil coach Luis Felipe Scolari said. "We hugged each other and I said to him, 'I will see you in the final.' ... When I see him again, I will give him another hug."

Even with its illustrious football history, Brazil has reached a third straight World Cup final for the first time. The Brazilians captured their record fourth title in 1994, when they edged the Italians on penalty kicks. Then, four years ago, Brazil was humbled by host France.

The last team to accomplish the feat was the former-West Germany. The European nation finished as runner-up to Italy in 1982 and Argentina in 1986 before beating Diego Maradona and company four years later.

Ronaldo, who recovered in time for Wednesday's match after suffering an injured left thigh in the quarterfinals against England, had three Turkish defenders around him at the top of the box when he unexpectedly toe-poked the ball on goal. The shot caught goalkeeper Rustu Recber off guard, who managed to get his left hand on the ball which rolled inside the left post.

"We are very happy about today's match, but we haven't got the title yet," Ronaldo said. "We shouldn't be too excited about it yet, we still need to win the title. The next match will be tough, so we shouldn't be over-confident."

Little was expected of the Brazilians at this World Cup after they uncharacteristically struggled during qualification, finishing 13 points adrift of first-placed Argentina in third. But since the start of 2002, Brazil is unbeaten in 12 matches overall, posting an 11-0-1 mark.

"It is really something very big what we have achieved, but I felt positive energy from the Brazilian players, supporters and the bench," Scolari said. "We are pleased that we have now been able to make the fans so happy and we thank them for having the patience."

"First of all, we should look at the beginning of the opportunity. One of our players couldn't intercept the pass and Ronaldo used his quickness and vision to score the goal," Turkey coach Senol Gunes said.

Despite scoring Turkey's golden goal in its quarterfinal against Senegal, striker Ilhan Mansiz came off the bench with 28 minutes left. The leading scorer in the Turkish League during the 2001-02 campaign, Ilhan had his 78th-minute effort tipped over the bar by goalkeeper Marcos and headed another shot high in injury time.

Though captain Hakan Sukur had perhaps his best scoring chance of the tournament with nine minutes left, a stunning volley which Marcos turned aside, the veteran still failed to score in six matches as Turkey's lone forward in the starting lineup.

"They are both very good players," Gunes said. "This time I selected Sukur in the first half and we tried to control the game. In the second half, we tried to score. Maybe I could have started both of them, it doesn't matter to me."

Ronaldo recorded his 43rd international goal. Despite being sidelined for much of the last three years due to a series of injuries, the superstar striker ranks fourth on Brazil's all-time goal-scoring list, trailing only Pele (77), Romario (54) and Zico (48).

"Ronaldo's injury did not really worry us," Scolari said. "We knew from seeing him before the game and then during the game that he was fine. ... I only substituted him towards the end to keep him fresh for the final."

He also is frontrunner in the race for "The Golden Boot" as the top goal-scorer in the tournament. Ronaldo owns a one-goal lead over fellow Brazilian forward Rivaldo and Germany's Miroslav Klose.

Rivaldo had his five-game goal-scoring streak come to an end on Wednesday. The 1999 FIFA World Player of the Year was trying to become just the second player in history to score in every World Cup match. Another Brazilian, Jairzinho, accomplished the feat as part of the 1970 World Cup-winning side.

Rivaldo's 23rd-minute shot forced Rustu to make a brilliant double-save. After blocking the initial effort, the Turkish goalie was quick to react to Ronaldo's follow-up attempt in front of the goal.

Ronaldo set up Brazilian captain Cafu just two minutes earlier. The fullback, who increased his national team record by earning his 110th cap, unleashed a blast from 12 yards away, but Rustu got a piece of the ball, forcing it to bounce wide.

Rustu made 10 saves to keep Turkey in the contest and confirm his status as one of the top goalkeepers at the 2002 World Cup.