World Cup day seven in a nutshell: Diego Costa scores for Spain as Cristiano Ronaldo breaks record
Wednesday 20 June 2018 21:48, UK
We round up Wednesday's talking points from Russia, with all three matches finishing 1-0, Cristiano Ronaldo breaking another record, and England suffering an injury scare of sorts...
Each day during the tournament, we will be pulling together all the big stories and best reaction right here in a nutshell, so you do not miss a thing.
Here are the highlights from day seven at the World Cup...
The reports
Cristiano Ronaldo proved the difference for Portugal as his early header condemned Morocco to a 1-0 defeat in Group B.
After his hat-trick against Spain, Ronaldo was yet again in headline-grabbing mood and headed Portugal into a fourth-minute lead.
His 85th goal for his country means he's now scored more international goals than any other European player in history and puts Portugal in a strong position to qualify for the last 16 with four points from their first two games.
Morocco created ample opportunities but a mixture of poor finishing, most notably from Mehdi Benatia and a strong display from new Wolves goalkeeper Rui Patricio denied them and equaliser and means Herve Renard's men can't qualify for the last 16 after two straight defeats.
Uruguay booked their place in the last 16 of the World Cup after a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia in Rostov-on-Don.
The victory, which also confirms Russia's place in the knockout stage and eliminates both Saudi Arabia and Egypt, was secured through a close-range goal from Luis Suarez (23) on his 100th appearance for his country.
Uruguay need to beat Russia in Samara next Monday to top the group, while Saudi Arabia will head home following their final Group A game against Egypt.
Diego Costa struck again for Spain to seal a 1-0 win over World Cup Group C opponents Iran, who were denied an equaliser by VAR.
Costa, who scored twice for Spain during their 3-3 draw against Portugal on Friday, added his third goal of the tournament when Ramin Rezaeian's clearance cannoned off the Atletico Madrid striker's shin and into the net.
Iran thought they had levelled things up 10 minutes later, but Saeid Ezatolahi's goal was ruled out by VAR for offside after he had wheeled away in celebration.
The result puts Spain level at the top of the group on four points with Portugal while Iran are a point behind in third and could still make the knockout stages of the competition.
Moment of the day
Four goals for Portugal at the World Cup, four goals for Ronaldo.
After earning Portugal a point against Spain with a hat-trick in a 3-3 draw, Ronaldo grabbed all three points for his country with one goal against Morocco. It was not his most spectacular goal - a header from a corner - but it was decisive, and also historic.
His 85th goal for Portugal means he's now scored more international goals than any other European player in history. Next target? Surpassing Iranian striker Ali Daei's international record of 109 goals. You wouldn't bet against it at this rate.
The key quotes
Cristiano Ronaldo is like a port wine, he changes as he ages. He's constantly evolving, unlike regular players he's always evolving. He won't be doing the same thing in two or three years and he's not doing what he did four or five years ago. He knows himself well and what he needs to do.
If you could be a little bit more positive as well, that would be cool.
We took things a bit too lightly after the warm-up games. We make no bones about it. We're self-critical. We need to go back to being prepared to walk the extra mile.
Stat of the day
Tweet of the day
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In the news
A day after limping out of training, Neymar is fine, according to the Brazilian football federation.
Brazil had a closed practice session Wednesday, two days before their game against Costa Rica in St Petersburg, but the federation posted photos and a video of Neymar in action in training with the rest of the squad.
"Brazil practising and Neymar participating normally in the team's activity," the federation said on Twitter. "Take a look at Neymar practising in Sochi!" read a post linking to a video which showed the PSG star training without any sign of a limp.
The images showed him exchanging passes and making challenges. In a longer version of the video sent to journalists, Neymar took free-kicks.
"Neymarpractisedd the whole time," the federation later said on their website. "He showed confidence and participated actively during the whole session."
While Neymar seems to have recovered from injury, England manager Gareth Southgate has suffered an injury - while running.
Southgate was taken to the hospital after dislocating his right shoulder while running near the team's World Cup base.
"I am just a bit gutted because I was on for my record 10-kilometer time," he joked.
Two Iceland fans have paid homage to the spirit of the Vikings by travelling 3,107 miles in a Russian-built Lada to support their team at the World Cup.
Postal service worker Kristbjorn Hilmir Kjartansson and his friend Gretar Jonsson, a film student, took 14 days to make the trip from Reykjavik to Moscow.
"It's the spirit of adventure," Jonsson said as he showed off the car near the Volgograd Arena on Wednesday. "You know the Vikings were great explorers, sailors and fighters, so we have a little bit of their desire to have an adventure... it's crazy but it's so much fun."
And finally...
Burger King has apologised after offering a lifetime supply of Whoppers to Russian women who get pregnant from World Cup players.
Critics condemned the offer, announced on Russian social media, saying it was sexist and demeaning.
The announcement was removed from Burger King's social media accounts on Tuesday but is still circulating among Russian social network users. It promised a reward to women who get "the best football genes" and "ensure the success of the Russian team for generations to come".
Thefast-foodd company posted a Russian-language statement on local network VKontakte saying "we offer apologies for the announcement we made. It was too offensive."
