Portugal 5–0 Uzbekistan: Ronaldo brace makes him first to score at six World Cups
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Portugal swept aside Uzbekistan 5-0 in Group K, the 41-year-old becoming the first player to find the net at six different World Cups. He opened the scoring in the sixth minute, finishing from close range after a low João Cancelo cross.
Nuno Mendes doubled the lead in the 17th minute, burying a free-kick into the corner from a clever set-piece routine. Ronaldo then made it three before the break, bending his run onto a perfectly-weighted Bruno Fernandes through ball and firing across the goalkeeper in the 39th minute to send Portugal in 3-0 ahead.
The rout continued after the interval. Abduvohid Nematov turned the ball into his own net from a Portugal corner in the 60th minute, before substitute Rafael Leão completed the scoring in the 87th. The dominant display, in which Portugal vastly outshot and out-chanced their opponents, left them on the brink of the knockout rounds.
Key moments
- •Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice (6', 39') to become the first player to score at six different World Cups.
- •Nuno Mendes curled in a 17th-minute free-kick to make it 2-0.
- •Portugal led 3-0 at half-time after Ronaldo's second, set up by a Bruno Fernandes through ball.
- •An Abduvohid Nematov own goal from a corner extended the lead in the 60th minute.
- •Substitute Rafael Leão rounded off the 5-0 win in the 87th minute.
Timeline
Match facts
- NRG Stadium, Houston
- 68,777 attendance
- ▶
- Referee: Jalal Jayed (Morocco)
Match report generated from publicly available sources. Facts are drawn from the sources below.