Ronaldo shines as Portugal deliver 5-0 thrashing of Uzbekistan and Engand suffer 0-0 draw to Ghana

Ronaldo was quick to shutdown criticism over his goalless World Cup opener and overall usefulness to his national side as he grabbed a brace in Portugal’s 5-0 pounding of Uzbekistan. The final two groups, K and L, went out onto the pitch late on Tuesday and early morning on Wednesday to play their final second matchday fixtures of the 2026 FIFA World Cup group stages. Fan-favourite Cristiano Ronaldo braced to lead Portugal after a disappointing opening match last week which saw the reigning UEFA Nations League champions suffer a 1-1 draw against the Democratic Republic of the Congo. European heavyweights England, who were finalists in two consecutive EURO tournaments in 2020 and 2024 also made their second appearance after convincingly getting past Croatia in a dramatic 4-2 win on matchday one. Here is a summary of all four matches: Portugal v Uzbekistan Cristiano Ronaldo rebounded from a lacklustre start to his sixth World Cup and led Portugal to a dominant victory over Uzbekistan on Tuesday, renewing hope that the team is a contender for the title. The Portuguese superstar scored a brace in his country’s 5-0 thrashing of Uzbekistan, which he celebrated wildly in response to a week filled with criticism from fans, former players and pundits, over his match fitness and whether he helps or holds back his star-studded national side. “We improved,” Ronaldo said in Portuguese. “It’s life, sometimes you will have challenges and the main goal is always to improve and that’s what we did.” The former Real Madrid forward then turned to the camera and said “I am back” twice. The 41-year-old Ronaldo became the first player to score in six World Cup tournaments, adding another impressive accomplishment to his storied career. He was named man of the match. His first goal came early into the game, after a brilliant manoeuvre inside the box found him in unmarked territory where he powerfully slotted a cross from full back Joao Cancelo into the near side bottom corner to open the scoring. He then lined up to take a free kick on the edge of the box, but to everyone’s surprise in the stadium and at home watching on the TV, Ronaldo did not take the shot himself, instead leaving it to PSG left-back Nuno Mendes who executed a brilliant and surprising bottom left corner curler around the net to give Portugal a 2-0 lead. It was Ronaldo again shortly after who found himself through on goal in a quickly orchestrated counterattack, after Manchester United maestro midfielder Bruno Fernandes found his run and passed him into the open space where Cristiano elegantly and softly brushed the ball past Uzbek keeper Abduvohid Nematov in the 39th, to go into halftime rocking a 3-0 lead. The second half featured the same dominant Portugal that exited the first, a team applying constant pressure on their central Asian challengers. It was in the 60th minute when they were able to find the net again after forcing chaos inside the box, leading Nematov to mistakenly push the ball into his own net in an attempt to scoop it off the line. A brilliant counterattack late into the game saw AC Milan forward Rafael Leao add to the torment, driving an impressive shot into the top left corner to complete the 5-0 scoreline. Ronaldo, looking to join the World Cup golden boot race with arch rival Lionel Messi and new-gen superstars Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, who are on five and four goals apiece respectively, chased a hat trick with a late chance in the 95th minute seeing him come daringly close, but ultimately couldn’t get enough on the ball. Portugal now sit second in their group at four points with qualification into the knockout stage just a breath away. They next play Colombia, the group leaders, who are coming off the back of two wins. England v Ghana Next up to take centre stage were the Three Lions who pulled off an impressive 4-2 win over Croatia in their opening match. Expectations were high from English fans as the star-studded national side walked out on to the pitch in Boston to face off against Ghana. But, to their disappointment, it did not play out how they expected. England was held to a goalless draw against the African powerhouse, despite statistically dominating the match. The English national team, led by captain and star striker for Bayern Munich, Harry Kane, registered 19 shots to Ghana’s two, but only four of which were on target. They also led in possession, holding the ball a whopping 78% of the time, but ultimately failed to break a low defensive block imposed by Ghana under Portuguese manager Carlos Quieroz. England and Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz have met before at the World Cup, with the result being quite a bit different. Four years ago at the World Cup in Qatar, Queiroz was coaching Iran when his team faced England and lost 6-2. This time, Queiroz’s team earned a point that could end up being enough for a spot in the round of 32. “Frustrated a little bit with how they defended, how they set up,” England midfielder Jude Bellingham said. “They got exactly out of the game what they played for. Couldn’t quite break them down, even with all corners, all the possession, all the shots on goal from distance.” The closing minute saw England constantly press up high and at many times even maintaining constant presence inside Ghana’s box. Moments late in the game fell to no avail as England failed to capitalise on chaotic chances. The closest moment came after O’Reilly missed a header which bounced off the crossbar and fell square to Kane late in the game, who in unusual fashion, skied the ball. Kane is usually lethal in front of goal, with this season’s performance which earned him top spot in the golden boot race, being testament to that, but Tuesday’s performance presented fans with an uncharacteristic version of their captain who they hadn’t seen prior. England and Ghana occupy the top two spots in Group L, with the Three Lions edging ahead to steal the top position on goal differential. They go into their next and final group stage matchups at four points apiece, where England next faces Panama for a chance to top the group, while Ghana faces more difficult opposition in Croatia, who are vying to keep their World Cup dreams alive with a win. Croatia v Panama Croatia clinched a critical three points in their second match of the group stage against Panama, grinding to penetrate a tight defensive system to scrape past 1-0. There wasn’t much open space in Panama’s back line as it tried to keep its World Cup hopes alive, but just four minutes after Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić subbed on an extra forward in the second half, Josip Stanišić validated his coach’s decision, finding some room on the right and making his move. Stanišić lifted an exceptional curving cross onto the boot of Ante Budimir, who tapped it into an open net in the 54th minute, lifting Croatia to a 1-0 win on Tuesday night. “This was very difficult and I didn’t expect that it was going to be such a difficult match, to be honest,” said Dalić. “We didn’t react the best, and perhaps it could be due to the pressure because we really needed these three points.” Three minutes after Budimir scored, the Vatreni nearly added another goal when 40-year-old Luka Modrić — making his 200th international appearance — passed ahead to Marco Pašalić on a breakaway, but Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera blocked the shot. “I was quite surprised by the quality (of Panama),” Dalić said. Panama had three straight chances in the 67th minute to knot things up, after Cristian Martinez slid to keep the ball in play in the corner. Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livaković then made a trio of dazzling saves; on the third, he just managed to get a hand on the ball and send it over the net. “These are the kind of matches where you get the feeling that you’re dominating, that you might score a goal,” Martinez said. “But then they have one chance and they score. These aren’t teams that need much to score a goal.” Modrić, the 2018 Ballon d’Or winner as the best player in Europe, has led Croatia to World Cup finishes of runner-up (2018) and third place (2022). He got a postgame tribute from his teammates after his milestone appearance. Croatia players donned black T-shirts that bore Modrić’s image and read “200” in gold, with the zeros linked to resemble the mathematical symbol for infinity. They took a lap around the pitch together. “Everybody knows what he means to us,” defender Marin Pongračić said. “He’s our captain, he’s our leader, and he’s the biggest legend of Croatian football, and we are witnessing him, and just him as a person, how humble he is. What a mindset, what a mentality.” Group L will be decided on Saturday, with England and Ghana tied at four points and Croatia with three. England will face Los Canaleros in East Rutherford, New Jersey, while Ghana and Croatia will play in Philadelphia. Colombia v DR Congo Daniel Muñoz helped Colombia break through Congo's stingy defence and advance to the knockout stage of the World Cup with a 1-0 win on Tuesday night. Muñoz scored in the 76th minute after the Colombians had been held back by a strong performance from Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi, who made five difficult saves in the first 20 minutes. Mpasi had no chance to stop Muñoz's left-footed strike from inside the box after the ball deflected off a defender. It was Muñoz's second goal in the tournament. Congo twice came close to equalising in stoppage time, with Colombia goalkeeper Camilo Vargas making a superb save off a long-range strike by Nathanael Mbuku and then stopping a header by Chancel Mbemba off the ensuing corner kick. Colombian star forward Luis Díaz had two goals called back in quick succession late in the second half, one for a foul in the 79th minute and another for offside in the 80th. Congo had opened its first World Cup in 52 years with a surprising 1-1 draw against Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal. Colombia, which did not qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, is ranked 11th in the world, third best among South American teams behind Brazil and Argentina. Los Cafeteros opened with a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan. Meanwhile 47th ranked Congo, had its World Cup preparations affected because of an Ebola outbreak. Colombia needs a draw against Portugal on Saturday to win the group. That result would also be enough to send Portugal to the knockout stage.