Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to ever score in five different World Cup competitions as Portugal defeated Ghana 3-2 despite surviving a late scare.
The five goals were scored in the final 30 minutes, starting with a penalty kick by Cristiano Ronaldo, followed by Andre Ayew’s equaliser and two quick goals from Portugal’s Joao Felix and Rafael Leao. Ghana could have even equalised at the very end, but substitute Osman Bukari made a game out of things late.
Prior to the game, Mohammed Kudus made headlines for his scathing remarks about Neymar, which he later referred to as “fake news.” The Ajax talent, however, struggled to get going and occasionally lost possession of the ball when he tried to play too deep.
A Ronaldo attempt was stopped in its tracks in the second of those instances by Ghanaian goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi, who was previously a backup until an injury elevated him to the starting position. Soon after, Ronaldo had another fantastic opportunity, this time in the air, but strangely it didn’t go through.
After 30 minutes, Ronaldo did score, but the play was called back because the 37-year-old made a foul while winning the ball.
Ghana had put a lot of effort into blocking Portugal throughout the first half, at the cost of a lot of creative attacking play. However, Kudus was consistently going to be the best source of something, and he displayed flashes of his talent with a driving run and a low shot that narrowly missed the mark.
Around the hour mark, Alidu Seidu should have been dismissed for the Black Stars. He was warned for a foul on Felix, but when he aggressively pushed the Portuguese player in the head, he received only another warning.
Shortly after, as Mohammed Salisu attempted to win the ball, Ronaldo fell in the area, infuriating Ghana. But the 37-year-old did get to the ball first before the defender touched it, and he then made no mistakes as he made a shot from 12 yards into the top corner.
Kudus had been posing an increasing threat, and when he moved past the ball and into a better position, he was able to send a low cross directly into the path of Ayew, who scored the equaliser. The ball slipped through Danilo Pereira’s legs before being fired by the Ghana captain.
However, Kudus and Ayew didn’t last long on the field, and when Bruno Fernandes finally emerged and made some significant contributions, Portugal quickly regained the initiative. Two minutes apart, two measured through balls, one to the right and one to the left, gave Fernando Santos’ team a quick-fire double. Leao scored an exquisite first-time finish to make it 3-1 after Felix calmly restored the lead at 2-1.
Portugal should have won the match at that point. Joao Cancelo, however, lost defensive focus, allowing Baba Rahman to cross from the left and Bukari to head in, giving Ghana a chance to mount a late comeback.
A moment of madness in the dying seconds saw goalkeeper Diogo Costa put the ball down without realising that Inaki Williams was hiding behind him. Portugal appeared to have done just enough to hold on. Williams stole it, but he slipped just as it mattered, costing him the opportunity.
Portugal (4-3-1-2)
GK: Diogo Costa – 3/10
RB: Joao Cancelo – 4/10
CB: Ruben Dias – 5/10
CB: Danilo Pereira – 5/10
LB: Raphael Guerreiro – 5/10
CM: Bernardo Silva – 6/10
CM: Ruben Neves – 6/10
CM: Otavio – 5/10
AM: Bruno Fernandes – 7/10
ST: Cristiano Ronaldo (c) – 7/10
ST: Joao Felix – 7/10
SUB: William Carvalho (56′ for Otavio) – 7/10
SUB: Rafael Leao (77′ for Neves) – 7/10
SUB: Joao Palhinha (88′ for Silva) – N/A
SUB: Joao Mario (88′ for Felix) – N/A
SUB: Goncalo Guedes (88′ for Ronaldo) – N/A
Manager: Fernando Santos – 7/10
Ghana (3-5-2)
GK: Lawrence Ati-Zigi – 6/10
CB: Daniel Amartey -7/10
CB: Alexander Djiku – 6/10
CB: Mohammed Salisu – 5/10
RWB: Alidu Seidu – 5/10
CM: Thomas Partey – 6/10
CM: Salis Abdel Samed – 7/10
CM: Mohammed Kudus – 8/10
LWB: Baba Rahman – 6/10
ST: Andre Ayew (c) – 7/10
ST: Inaki Williams – 5/10
SUB: Tariq Lamptey (67′ for Seidu) – 6/10
SUB: Jordan Ayew (77′ for Ayew) – 6/10
SUB: Osman Bukari (77′ for Kudus) – 7/10
SUB: Daniel-Kofi Kyerah (90+3 for Djiku) – N/A
SUB: Antoine Semenyo (90+3 for Samed) – N/A
Manager: Otto Addo – 6/10