Ronaldo has gone ahead of Gerd Muller's World Cup mark
The 29-year-old took just five minutes to go past Gerd Muller's tally of 14, latching on to Kaka's through ball and rounding Richard Kingson to slot home.
Adriano tapped in Cafu's cross and Ze Roberto ran through to wrap it up while Ghana's Asamoah Gyan was sent off.
John Mensah had the Africans' best chance, but Dida saved his header.
Brazil will now meet France in the last eight on Saturday in Frankfurt at 2000 BST.
The scoreline was perhaps a touch harsh on Ghana, who recovered from a horror start to match their more illustrious opponents.
It was a start made more remarkable by the African side's defensive naivety than Brazil's attacking prowess, as twice in five minutes they got caught out at the back.
606 VIEW Ghana controlled play and created numerous half-chances, but poor imagination, delivery and finishing let them down every time
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The first time they were saved by a flag incorrectly ruling Ronaldo offside, the second time they pushed up and allowed Kaka to feed in Ronaldo, who shimmied past Kingson and slotted in.
After all the criticism, it was yet another record-breaking goal for the peerless Real Madrid man.
Still Ghana failed to learn. Ze Roberto found Adriano in acres of space only for the striker to fluff his lines, trying to round Kingson but falling to the floor and being booked for a dive.
Brazil began strolling - if they needed a reminder they were in a game Matthew Amoah's 20-yard drive that flew just wide should have done the trick.
But it did not seem to, as Amoah shot straight at Dida and then Gyan turned Lucio superbly before rifling over on the stretch from 12 yards.
Two minutes before half-time, they had a golden chance to level. Mensah rose unchallenged from a corner, but to Ghana's dismay his bullet header struck Dida's leg and bounced away from danger.
Just before the break they were punished when Brazil launched a quick counter-attack and Cafu crossed for a seemingly offside Adriano to bundle home.
Ronaldo rounds Richard Kingson to create history in Dortmund
Ghana coach Ratomir Dujkovic was so incensed that he was sent to the stands for the second half after remonstrating with the referee.
The second goal was hard on Ghana after a spirited response to their early errors and to their credit they continued to plough forward after the break.
John Pantsil flashed a header wide from another set-piece and Gyan and Haminu Draman both wildly lashed over from good positions.
As Brazil sat back Stephen Appiah fed in Gyan, but the hero of the win over Czech Republic was foiled again by an impressive diving stop from Dida.
Until Gyan was sent off - his second yellow card was for diving - Brazil did not look like adding to their tally, a Pantsil header at his own goal a rare venture into the Ghana penalty area.
But with 11 against 10 they stepped up the pace and Ghana's misery was compounded when substitute Ricardinho floated a ball over the top and Ze Roberto flicked it past Kingson, ran round him and rolled into an empty net.
The defending champions are slowly but surely clicking into gear at this World Cup finals.
Brazil: Dida, Cafu, Lucio, Juan, Carlos, Emerson (Silva 45), Ze Roberto, Kaka (Ricardinho 83), Ronaldinho, Adriano (Juninho 61), Ronaldo.
Subs Not Used: Cicinho, Cris, Fred, Gilberto, Julio Cesar, Luisao, Mineiro, Rogerio, Robinho.
Booked: Adriano, Juan.
Goals: Ronaldo 5, Adriano 45, Ze Roberto 84.
Ghana: Kingson, Pantsil, Shilla, Mensah, Pappoe, Draman, Eric Addo (Boateng 60), Appiah, Muntari, Amoah (Tachie-Mensah 69), Gyan.
Subs Not Used: Otto Addo, Adjei, Ahmed, Kuffour, Mohamed, Owu, Pimpong, Quaye, Sarpei.
Sent Off: Gyan (81).
Booked: Appiah, Muntari, Pantsil, Eric Addo, Gyan.
Att: 65,000.
Ref: Lubos Michel (Slovakia).
Fifa man-of-the-match: Ze Roberto
TRIVIA
Ronaldo became the World Cup's all-time top scorer by netting his 15th goal in the finals. He thereby surpassed Gerd Muller's tally of 14, in his 18th successive World Cup match, the longest streak by a current player. Cafu set a Brazilian record by playing in his 19th game. The competition record is 25 World Cup matches by Lothar Matthaus.
Adriano's goal was Brazil's 200th in the World Cup. They are the first nation to reach this milestone. Ze Roberto became the seventh Brazilian goalscorer at the 2006 World Cup. No other nation has more than six different goalscorers.
Brazil won their 11th straight World Cup match, extending their all-time record. They're also on an 11-match unbeaten run, which is two shy of their own competition record set between 1958-1966.
Trivia stats source: Infostrada Sports
50pxBrazil are through to the quarter-finals of the Fifa World Cup after a comfortable 3-0 win over Ghana, Tuesday.

Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund.

Ghana seemed to dictate the style of this match; with their defensive back four near to the half-way line Brazil was kept out of shooting range. While Ghana could not stop the reigning champions scoring on three counter-attacks they achieved slightly more ball possession and shots on goal over the game.

The Africans out shot the South Americans 18:11 but were not very accurate, often wide from long range. Brazil looked much more deadly going forward and got ten out of their 11 shots on target.

Ratomir Dujkovic's team's offside trap was brittle and beaten after just five minutes. Kaka sent Ronaldo sprinting through. The forward did a step over in front of Richard Kingston and put in his fifteenth World Cup goal, his third in this championship - a total which surpassed the German Gerd Müller as the highest scorer in the history of the World Cup.

Another counterattack before half time led to Adriano's tap-in from Cafu's low pass across goal.

Ghana came closest to a goal when John Mensah headed a corner straight down at Dida's feet. The Brazilian keeper reacted quickly to save and kick the ball out of harm's way.

The third goal was from a simple long ball from full-back Ricardinho over the Ghanaian defence. Ze Roberto ran on to it and nicked it by the on-rushing keeper Kingston and coaxed it over the line.

At this point in the match the Brazilians had received boos from some of the crowd who thought football's traditional crowd-pleasers were deliberately playing within themselves. 

But as the clock ran down there were a number of exciting Brazilian attacks and Richard Kingston had to make three outstanding saves to keep the score respectable for Ghana.

Asamoah Gyan was sent off when he got a second yellow card for foul simulation.

In the next phase Brazil would play against France, in a game held in Frankfurt on July 1.

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