For only the fourth time in World Cup history, at least five goals were scored after a goalless first half, as Portugal beat Ghana 3-2 in their Group H opener. However, the headlines were once again stolen by the phenomenal Cristiano Ronaldo, this time for the right reasons after his Manchester United exit, becoming the first player to score at five different World Cups after he converted a penalty to break the deadlock.
Described after the match by Portugal boss Fernando Santo as “one of the best players ever”, Ronaldo watched the final few moments from the bench, as Portugal survived some hairy moments to secure a win in their World Cup opener for the first time since 2006! Portugal have long proved they need some time to settle at football’s showpiece event but subsequently have a strong record in their second group stage game at the World Cup, winning four of their last five such games (D1) by a combined score 16-2!
Goals may not be so easy to come by against Uruguay though, who started their World Cup campaign with a 0-0 draw against South Korea in a match that failed to produce a single shot on target. Consequently, the inaugural World Cup winners have now gone 465 minutes without conceding a goal in the group stage of the World Cup, keeping five such consecutive clean sheets, with England’s Wayne Rooney the last player to score against them in a group stage match back in 2014!
That perhaps won’t come as a surprise to fans of The Sky Blue, with Uruguay preventing their opponents from scoring in a stunning eight of their ten matches in 2022. Not even a goal conceded stopped Uruguay in the Round of 16 of the 2018 World Cup where these two sides met, with two strikes from Uruguay star Edinson Cavani enough to send them to quarter-finals, a stage Uruguay have reached in two of their last three World Cup participations.
Key battle: João Félix became the youngest player to score on his World Cup debut for Portugal at 23 years and 14 days in their last game against Ghana, which curiously saw another 23-year old find the net in Rafael Leão, though Leão is 153 days older. Meanwhile, Uruguay keeper Sergio Rochet kept a clean sheet against South Korea – a feat he has achieved in six of his last seven international appearances.
Hot stat: There have been six goals scored on or beyond the 80th minute across Portugal’s last four matches.
World Cup trivia: The record for the fastest red card in World Cup history (52 seconds) belongs to Uruguay defender Jose Batista from 1986. He actually committed the foul in the 39th second and it took the referee 13 seconds to show the card.
