Ronaldo Beats Messi To WC Record In Portuga…

Photo by Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images

Cristiano Ronaldo got his first goals at the 2026 FIFA World Cup as Portugal thrashed Uzbekistan 4-0 in their second Group K clash on Tuesday evening.

Fixture: Portugal v Uzbekistan
Score: 5-0
Goalscorers: Ronaldo (6′, 39′), Mendes (17′), Nematov (60′) Leao (87′)

Roberto Martinez opted to keep Cristiano Ronaldo in the attack, although Joao Felix joined the attack alongside Pedro Neto as they looked to bounce back from the goalless draw against the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A Selecao made their intentions clear from the onset by pushing Uzbekistan into their own half, which resulted in the opening goal inside the opening ten minutes when Ronaldo volleyed home a cross from Joao Cancelo. In doing so, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner became the first player to score at six different World Cup tournaments while he is now also the second oldest player to score in a World Cup.

The dominance showed no signs of letting up as Portugal doubled before the 20-minute mark when Nuno Mendes found the bottom corner with a lovely a free-kick from the edge of the box that gave goalkeeper Abduvakhid Nematov no chance.

Uzbekistan looked to have stunned their opponents Azizjon Ganiev when found the top corner with a superb strike from distance, but the strike was ruled out for a foul in the build-up following VAR review. To add insult to injury, Portugal added a third goal ten minutes later as Ronaldo completed his brace with another composed finish.

Martinez’s men showed no signs of taking their foot off the pedal in the second period as they added a fourth goal just before the hour mark when Uzbekistan defender Abduvakhid Nematov diverted a corner into the back of his own net.

Uzbekistan did not have a lot of the ball to hurt their Portuguese counter-parts as the second half went on, but there were a couple scary moments for Martinez’s men, with Eldor Shomurodov and Azizjon Ganiev going close with a couple of efforts from distance.

While Uzbekistan were unable to ruffle Diogo Costa’s net, Portugal would go on to bag a fifth goal with two minutes remaining when substitute Rafael Leao pounced on a rebound in the box before sending a first-time effort into the top corner.

Next Fixtures:

Portugal: Colombia

Uzbekistan: Democratic Republic of Congo

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