World Cup recap: Portugal defeats Uruguay, Brazil shuts out Switzerland and more
Portugal became the youngest team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 on Monday after beating Uruguay 2-0 in a shutout.
Bruno Fernandes scored twice for Portugal while Diogo Costa made three saves to save the goal. Uruguay are bottom of Group H after losing just one point in two games.
Costa made the first key save of the game in the 32nd minute, spreading wide to prevent Rodrigo Betancur from celebrating the opening goal. Portugal pressed on in the second half when Fernandes capitalized on a skillful cross in the 54th minute.
Fernandes tried to find Cristiano Ronaldo in the box but his high cross deceived Uruguay keeper Sergio Rochet and nestled into the back net.
Maxi Gomez hit the post for Uruguay in the 75th minute while the Conmebol side continued to fight for an equaliser. However, it was Portugal who celebrated a second goal in the game with VAR judgment in their favour.
Jose Gimenez was called into the box for handball and Fernandes stepped forward to score his second goal of the tournament. Portugal hung at the top of the group and secured their place in the knockout rounds.
Here’s a closer look at Monday’s World Cup action:
Brazil 1, Switzerland 0
(Casemiro 84′)
Brazil joined Portugal after a narrow 1-0 win over Switzerland in the round of 16.
Casemiro played the hero for Tite’s men, scoring his first goal of the tournament with just six minutes to go. Alisson didn’t make a single save for Brazil and conceded his second goal of the tournament.
Brazil fought tirelessly for a winning goal and scored one from an unknown source in the final moments of the game. Rodrygo’s free pass gave Casemiro the opportunity to score a half-volley into Yann Sommer’s far corner.
Vinicius Junior and Raphinha were both denied by the Borussia Mönchengladbach keeper in the first half, leaving the side goalless at half-time.
Brazil thought they had taken the lead in the 66th minute, but Richarlison was called offside despite failing to touch the ball in Vinicius’s build-up play.
Casemiro’s fifth international goal made the difference, however, as Brazil clinched two wins out of two in Qatar. Switzerland meets Serbia on Friday while Brazil meets Cameroon.
South Korea 2, Ghana 3
(Gue-Sung Cho 58′, 61′) – (Mohammed Salisu 24′, Mohammed Kudus 34′, 68′)
Ghana’s two-goal lead was wiped out by South Korea in Group H on Monday, but the African side capitalized on a 68th-minute winner from Mohammed Kudus to win 3-2.
Kudus scored twice for the young Ghana side while Mohammed Salisu also scored his first goal of the tournament.
Ghana took a 2-0 lead before half-time, with Salisu breaking the deadlock in the 24th minute before Kudus extended his lead in the 34th. Salisu benefited from a failed clearance from South Korea in his own box, while Kudus headed a dangerous cross from Jordan Ayew.
South Korea fought back in the second half, with Gue-Sung Cho scoring two goals in three minutes for the Asian side. Cho’s first goal came after a superb cross from Kang-In Lee before the 24-year-old quickly followed suit with a second header.
A mistimed shot from Inaki Williams allowed Kudus to score the eventual winner of the game and capped an exciting affair at Al Rayyan.
Lawrence Ati-Zigi made four saves for Ghana to secure victory and set up a showdown with Uruguay on Friday to earn a place in the last 16. South Korea meets Portugal at the same time.
Cameroon 3, Serbia 3
(Jean-Charles Castelletto 29′, Vincent Aboubakar 63′, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting 66′) – (Strahinja Pavlovic 45+1′, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic 45+3′, Aleksandar Mitrović 55′)
Both Cameroon and Serbia kept their hopes of reaching the round of 16 alive on Monday after a thrilling 3-3 draw in Group G.
Cameroon struck first through Jean-Charles Castelletto’s opening goal, but Serbia quickly took control of the game before half-time. Strahinja Pavlovic equalized for Serbia in first-half added time before Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic gave the European side a 2-1 lead.
Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrović extended Serbia’s lead to 3-1 in the 53rd minute, completing a brilliant Serb pass. Andrija Zivkovic’s assist was the last pass in a great passage.
Vincent Aboubakar reduced Cameroon’s deficit to 3-2 after a pass from Castelletto into the box before Aboubakar’s pass helped Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in an historic comeback two minutes later.
Both teams are level on points going into the final line-up of the group stage on Friday.
