Portugal scored more than double the number goals on the FIFA World Cup Matchday 13 than any of the other seven nations that had games combined.
It was a day where Portugal announced their intentions, England struggled and Croatia survived.
Oh, yeah. And the Statue Man arrived.
Portugal 5 – 0 Uzbekistan
Portugal looked stuck in their initial match of Group K against the Democratic Republic of Congo, with Cristiano Ronaldo in particular unable to mount anything. But that was not their second match against Uzbekistan.
Ronaldo got the game started in the 6th minute. João Cancelo held the ball on the right side of the box and placed a low cross into a dangerous area. Ronaldo, along with three other Portuguese players, sat ready in the 6-yard box, but it was the captain who struck first, getting on the board in the World Cup.
Nuno Mendes added a second goal in the 17th minute. A hard, low free kick was screened by a three-man Portuguese wall, giving the Uzbek keeper, Abduvohid Nematov, no chance.
Portugal took a commanding lead in the game in the 37th minute with Ronaldo once again jumping up. Bruno Fernandes started the quick counterattack, running through the middle of the park and picking out Ronaldo on the right.
Ronaldo received the ball at pace as he entered the box and shot across the keeper, catching Nematov going the wrong way, and bouncing the ball off the inside of the far post and in.
Portugal put the game away at the hour mark with their fourth goal. A corner kick came in low at the near post for Joao Félix, who backheeled it towards goal.
Nematov mishandled the ball and ended up putting it into his own net for an own goal.
Rafael Leão came off the bench for a fifth Portuguese goal in the 87th minute. Fernandes played a smart ball up to Nélson Semedo, which was quickly crossed into the box.
Leão was in open space just above the 6-yard box and one-timed it by the near post, essentially ending this match before the final whistle.
England 0 – 0 Ghana
England overwhelmingly dominated the first half in terms of possession. They suffocated Ghana on the ball, allowing at most two or three touches before they had effectively won it back.
Ghana barely saw a sniff of England’s half of the pitch throughout the first 45 minutes. However, they were also effective in limiting England’s chances in their end.
The African nation had its best moment of the half at the end, a corner in the 44th minute. But it was well defended by England, leaving Ghana without a single shot in the half.
For England’s part, their opportunities were kept to a minimum. They tried to find openings in the box, but Ghana’s defensive strategy, which had worked against Panama, still proved effective.
The second half played out much like the first, with England attacking and Ghana defending. But the final touch kept being the issue. In fact, England did not manage their first shot on target until the 57th minute, a low-xG chance from outside the 18-yard box.
And as the game crept towards the second-half hydration break, Ghana’s confidence grew with the belief they could snatch a point.
They almost saw that come to fruition in the 79th minute. Prince Adu ran into an excellently weighted pass with no apparent English defender able to get to him.
Ezri Konsa put on his jets and got back with a perfectly timed tackle in the box to deny the shot. There was a secondary opportunity, but it was deemed offside. But it was enough to show English cracks.
England responded with chances from Harry Kane and Bukayo Sako, but there was nothing they could do to dismantle Ghana’s low block. The nil-nil stalemate would stand as the final score.
Panama 0 – 1 Croatia
Both Panama and Croatia needed points in this match, given that they both had lost their opening game of the World Cup. Croatia came into this one as the obvious favourites, as Panama had never previously won a World Cup match.
The match was cagey for the first 20 minutes, played mainly in between the boxes.
Panama believed they had opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. José Luis Rodríguez’s header from near the penalty spot was palmed away by the Croatian goalkeeper, Dominik Livakovic, into the crossbar and away, a fantastic save and a wakeup call for the European nation.
Croatia’s best opportunity in the first half came from Martin Baturina, who had his low shot from outside the box saved by Orlando Mosquera.
Neither side could break the deadlock, leaving the players to walk back to their dressing rooms, awaiting the break.
Substitutions at the half paid off for Croatia with a goal in the 54th minute. Josip Stanisic’s excellent cross found Ante Budimir, who had only been on the pitch for nine minutes.
All Budimir had to do was tap it in for the opening goal of the match.
Croatia thought they had a second, minutes later, as Marco Pasalic surprisingly found himself on a clear break. But Mosquera came out and made himself large to deny the chance.
Panama fought to regain their place in the match, particularly through Cristian Martínez, who was their most creative player. Several chances went missing, but more than a few forced excellent saves from Livakovic.
It would be an easy argument to say that Livakovic kept Croatia alive in this match, as defensive errors could have seen this match end much differently.
But Croatia held on to their slim lead for the much-needed three points and a chance to finish high in Group L.
Colombia 1 – 0 DR Congo
Colombia was buzzing in the first minutes of this match. Jhon Arias had the first chance in the 4th minute, which was saved by Lionel Mpasi-Nzau in the Congolese goal.
The rebound bounced to Daniel Muñoz, but his shot was into the side netting.
Muñoz had another chance a couple of minutes later, but the play was flagged for offside. Still, the intensity of Colombia’s attack signalled their intentions early on.
Wave after wave came from Colombia as Mpasi-Nzau displayed his heroics in keeping DR Congo in the game. In the first 20 minutes of the match, he had already made five saves, each one of them high-quality chances.
As the second half started, Mpasi-Nzau continued from where he had left off. He had a huge save against Luis Díaz five minutes into the half and was alert to every half that entered his 18-yard box.
But it simply was not sustainable for DR Congo to withstand the Colombian onslaught, as they finally faltered in the 76th minute.
Muñoz jumped on a loose ball that was on the edge of the 18-yard box, moved inside and beat Mpasi-Nzau.
With the dam breached, Díaz thought he had scored on two separate occasions minutes apart, but one was chalked off on an earlier foul, and the other was offside.
DR Congo fought to the end, but it was apparent they were outmatched. They managed their first shot on target late in the game. It stood as their only attempt to force a save from Camilo Vargas.
The one goal was enough to give Colombia the win and the qualification to the Round of 32.
Up next
Round Three of the World Cup begins tomorrow with both matches from a single group to be played at the same time.
It begins with Canada playing Switzerland as Bosnia & Herzegovina take on Qatar. That is followed by Morocco versus Haiti and Scotland against Brazil.
The day wraps up with Czechia playing Mexico and South Korea going head to head with South Africa.
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