Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goals of the 2026 World Cup, as Portugal jump-started their bid for glory with a 5-0 rout of Uzbekistan.
It was another historic day for the skipper, who opened his account at the finals with a well-taken brace in Houston.
Nuno Mendes was also on target with a first-half free-kick, while substitute Rafael Leao put the icing on the cake with a clinical first-time finish late on.
In this article, we’ll cover:
Houston, Ronaldo has lift-off
With Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland firing on all cylinders so far at this World Cup, Ronaldo will have been desperate to get in on the act himself.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner had gone 10 successive games without scoring at a major tournament. However, he took just six minutes to end that drought, with his superb first-time finish making him the first player in history to score at six World Cups.
At 41 years and 138 days, Ronaldo became the oldest European player to score at a major tournament, and the second-oldest overall at the World Cup after Cameroon’s Roger Milla.
Ronaldo was expected to step up to a 17th-minute free-kick just outside the box, but with all eyes on him, he left it for Mendes to brilliantly sweep home and double the lead.
The skipper wasn’t finished there, though. Later in the half, he raced onto Bruno Fernandes’ throughball and neatly steered home to surpass the great Eusebio and become Portugal’s leading World Cup scorer with his 10th goal at the finals.
Ronaldo went close to completing his hat-trick with a couple more chances either side of half-time. Nevertheless, he’s matched the efforts of his Golden Boots rivals on matchday two.
Five-star Portugal prove their point
Portugal were seeking a positive response following their underwhelming display in the 1-1 draw with DR Congo. Roberto Martinez’s side had been quick out of the blocks, but were unable to build on their purposeful start – registering just seven shots on goal, despite enjoying three-quarters of the possession.
The Nations League winners made another quick start in Houston, breaking the deadlock after just six minutes – only this time, they did build on it to put the contest firmly beyond Uzbekistan in record-breaking fashion.
Indeed, at the 37th attempt, they scored three first-half goals in a single World Cup game for the very first time.
They weren’t finished there. Khusanov’s own-goal increased the lead on the hour mark, before Leao climbed off the bench to complete the rout – setting them up nicely for what should be a battle for top spot against Colombia on matchday three.
Own-goals galore
As previously mentioned, it’s fair to say football fans have been spoiled by the world’s best players at this year’s finals.
The battle for the Golden Boot is heating up very nicely indeed, with so many players already on double figures.
At the same time, though, the scoring of own-goals has reached incredible heights, too. We’ve already seen eight in North America.
That’s the joint-record in a World Cup group stage – matching the total from 2018 – and there are still another 27 games in which to break it outright.
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