Cristiano Ronaldo turned in a vintage performance with two goals and delivered Portugal to their first win of this World Cup, a 5-0 rout of Uzbekistan on Tuesday in Houston.
Ronaldo became the first player with goals in six editions of the World Cup. He eclipsed Eusebio as Portugal’s all-time World Cup goals leader with 10. And at 41, he is the second-oldest goal-scorer in World Cup history behind Cameroon’s Roger Milla (42 in 1994).
A target of sceptics after he failed to contribute to Portugal’s 1-1 draw with DR Congo, Ronaldo scored in the sixth and 39th minutes to continue a summer of braces in North America — following the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland who have scored two or more goals in a match this month.
Portugal (1-0-1, 4 points) moved one step closer to advancing out of Group K. Uzbekistan (0-2-0, 0 points) will be eliminated if DR Congo upset Colombia later Tuesday.
Nuno Mendes and Rafael Leao also scored and the Portuguese caused an Uzbekistan own goal during the second half.
Ronaldo was involved early, a near-miss in the fourth minute presaging what was around the corner.
Joao Cancelo penetrated the right wing and sent in a cross that met Ronaldo’s boot perfectly at the 6-yard line for a one-timer past Uzbekistan goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov.
An Uzbek yellow card led to a free kick just outside the penalty area in the 17th minute. The defence and the crowd alike expected Ronaldo to take a run, only for Mendes to come from the other direction for an easy score around the wall.
Azizjon Ganiev smashed in a would-be goal for Uzbekistan from well outside the box in the 29th minute, but only after a teammate dragged down Cancelo in the process of winning the ball back. A VAR check overturned the goal due to the foul.
Soon after, Bruno Fernandes led a fast break up the pitch and fed the ball to Ronaldo on his right. Ronaldo put a perfect touch on his low shot to the far post.
Ronaldo had a few chances at the hat trick, including a tricky move on a second-half free kick. Ronaldo again feinted at the ball, jogged past the wall and then tried to receive a pass from Fernandes, but Nematov defended Ronaldo’s attempt well.
It was 4-0 in the 60th minute when a Portugal free kick led to a rush of players on net. The ball glanced off a defender’s shoulder on its way into net, but Nematov was charged with the own goal.
Uzbekistan had occasional chances during the second but could not break through, and Leao capped the scoring in the 87th with a right-footed shot from point-blank range.
