Ronaldo Shines as Portugal Thrashes Uzbekistan 5-0

Cristiano Ronaldo roared back into the World Cup with the kind of performance that bends a tournament to his will, as Portugal crushed Uzbekistan 5-0 on a day when England stumbled, Croatia clung on, and the knockout picture sharpened into focus.

This was Day 13. It belonged to him.

Ronaldo ignites Portugal – and a record

Roberto Martinez had a decision to make. Stick or twist with a 41-year-old forward who had looked heavy-legged and frustrated in the 1-1 draw with DR Congo. He stuck. Within six minutes, the debate was over.

Joao Cancelo slid a pass into the inside-right channel, Ronaldo spun, and drilled a ruthless finish inside the near post. One touch to set, one to score. Six World Cups, six tournaments with a goal. No one has done that before.

The goal changed more than the scoreboard. It loosened Portugal’s shoulders, silenced the grumbling around Martinez’s loyalty, and turned a potentially tense evening into a showcase.

Ronaldo then did something that underlined his status in this squad. Over a free-kick on 17 minutes, he shaped to strike, drew the wall and keeper’s attention, then stepped aside at the last second. Nuno Mendes strode onto the ball and whipped in a precise low shot from the edge of the area. A rehearsed routine, perfectly sold by the star everyone expected to shoot.

Portugal were flowing now. Bruno Fernandes, dictating from midfield, spotted Ronaldo’s run in behind in the 39th minute and threaded a pass that begged to be finished. Ronaldo obliged, surging clear and slotting clinically. Two goals, one assist in all but name, and a statement: he is not here as a mascot.

An Uzbekistan own goal on the hour mark ended any faint resistance, and Rafael Leao’s late strike in the 87th minute put a flourish on a five-goal demolition that felt like a release for a side carrying heavy expectations.

When the whistle went, Ronaldo strode to the TV camera and delivered his message: “I’m back, I’m back.” It was not subtle. It did not need to be.

He is now Portugal’s all-time leading scorer at World Cups, moving beyond the legendary Eusebio. For a player who has built a career on numbers, this one matters. Yet his words afterwards were measured.

“I’m very happy but, for me, the most important thing is our work and the confidence we showed,” he said. “Obviously personal records are always nice but my goal is always to help the team achieve its objectives.”

On this evidence, those objectives stretch deep into the knockout rounds.

Colombia edge DR Congo as Group K takes shape

In the same group, Colombia secured their own passage with a far tighter win, grinding out a 1-0 victory over DR Congo in Guadalajara.

For 76 minutes, Lionel Mpasi stood between Colombia and frustration. The DRC goalkeeper repelled wave after wave, commanding his box and smothering low efforts as Colombia ratcheted up the pressure.

Eventually, it cracked. Daniel Munoz, pushing on from full-back, seized his moment with 14 minutes left, finally beating Mpasi to settle a tense contest and confirm Colombia’s place in the round of 32.

Portugal and Colombia now look like the standard-bearers in Group K. The rest are playing catch-up.

England stall, Ghana stand firm

Across in Group L, the mood could not have been more different. England, fresh from a thrilling 4-2 win over Croatia, ran aground against a disciplined Ghana in a drab 0-0 draw that will sting Thomas Tuchel.

The match began with an edge. Boos rang out for Thomas Partey, Ghana’s midfield anchor, as he took to the pitch. He is due to stand trial next year on charges of rape and sexual assault, which he denies. The noise around him framed the opening minutes.

On the pitch, Ghana did what they have done all tournament: defended with organisation and stubbornness. England, so vibrant days earlier, laboured. The first half passed without a single shot on target from either side, a damning statistic for a game loaded with attacking talent.

Tuchel’s team dominated possession but moved the ball too slowly, too predictably. Ghana’s back line held its shape, the midfield screened, and the Black Stars waited for mistakes that never quite came.

The pressure did rise after the break. Substitute Nico O’Reilly came closest first, his header clipping the bar and sparking England’s best spell. Harry Kane, increasingly involved as the game opened up, then had the chance to steal it with four minutes left, only to blaze over from a promising position.

“Yeah, it’s one of those games, a difficult team to break down and obviously we had loads of possession of the ball,” Kane told the BBC. “Probably the last 15 minutes of both halves we were at our best and had some chances, I had a good chance and hit the bar with Nico [O’Reilly] as well.

“Look, we wanted the win but we take the point and we’re still in a great position in the group.”

The stalemate carried subplots. Djed Spence appeared to avoid Partey in the pre-match handshakes, a brief but telling moment that will fuel debate.

On the table, England remain well placed. On the pitch, questions about Tuchel’s attacking balance will only grow louder.

Modric hits 200 as Croatia cling on

The other Group L fixture carried a different kind of weight. At BMO Field, Luka Modric stepped into rare air, winning his 200th cap for Croatia. Only three players in history had reached that milestone before him. Now he stands alongside them.

The game itself was tight, nervy, and defined by one moment. Ante Budimir struck in the 54th minute, his goal enough for a 1-0 win over Panama that keeps Croatia alive in the tournament and eliminates the Central Americans.

Modric, still the metronome at 38, knitted Croatia’s play, dropping deep to collect, drifting wide to create overloads, setting the tempo with the authority of a man who has lived every possible World Cup emotion. This one will rank among the quieter nights of his career, but it mattered. Croatia are still in the fight.

Panama, by contrast, bow out, their defeat confirming their exit from Group L.

The bracket begins to form

Day 13 also closed the book on the second round of group fixtures. From tomorrow, the third and final round begins, with jeopardy baked into every game.

Some nations can already plan for the knockouts. Mexico (Group A), United States (Group D), Germany (Group E), France (Group I), Norway (Group I), Argentina (Group J), and Colombia (Group K) are through to the round of 32.

Others know their journey is over. Haiti (Group C), Turkey (Group D), Tunisia (Group F), Jordan (Group J), and Panama (Group L) have been eliminated.

The stakes spike on Day 14. Twelve teams from Groups A to C will discover their fate, with the format adding layers of intrigue. The top two in each group qualify automatically, joined by the eight best third-placed sides. Fine margins will decide who stays and who goes.

Those margins are codified in the tiebreakers. Head-to-head records come first for teams level on points, then goal difference, then goals scored. If that still doesn’t separate them, the fair play score steps in.

Yellow and red cards could yet send a team home. Every booking, every dismissal, is tallied; the cleaner the record, the better the score. Discipline is no longer just a virtue. It might be a lifeline.

Trump to hand over the trophy

Away from the group-stage grind, FIFA confirmed a headline-grabbing detail for the final on 19 July. US President Donald Trump will present the World Cup trophy to the winners, alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

“We will be together with the president [Trump] enjoying the final and handing the trophy to the winner, of course, together,” Infantino told Fox & Friends. “We are together all the time.”

Trump has already had a dress rehearsal of sorts, co-presenting the Club World Cup trophy with Infantino last year. That ceremony drew ridicule when he lingered on the podium and appeared to join Chelsea’s celebrations, leaving players visibly unsure how to react.

This time, the stage will be bigger, the spotlight harsher, and the images indelible.

Norway’s Viking surge

One of the most striking stories of the day came from Group I, where Norway confirmed their place in the knockout rounds and celebrated in a way that has become their signature.

The “Viking Row” – a choreographed, thunderous, collective celebration – returned, players sitting in a line in front of their fans and miming a ship’s rowing motion in unison. It has gone viral around the world, but it only really works when it follows a result of substance. Qualification for the round of 32 more than qualifies.

The image of a team pulling together, literally and figuratively, feels fitting at a tournament where unity and identity have driven so many performances.

The second round is over. Ronaldo has re-announced himself, Modric has carved another line into football history, England have stalled, and the bracket is starting to take shape.

Now the World Cup moves into its most unforgiving phase of the groups: three games at a time, all across the continent, with entire campaigns hanging on a single swing of a boot or a single yellow card. Who blinks first?