World Cup day two in a nutshell: Mohamed Salah absent in Egypt loss, Iran leave it late and Cristiano Ronaldo shines
Friday 15 June 2018 22:33, UK
From Mohamed Salah stuck on the subs' bench to late winners and Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick, we round up the talking points from day two at the World Cup.
Each day during the tournament, we'll be pulling together all the big stories and best reaction right here in a nutshell, so you don't miss a thing.
Here are the highlights from day two at the World Cup...
The reports
Egypt 0-1 Uruguay
Jose Gimenez headed a 90th-minute winner as Uruguay beat Egypt 1-0 in their opening Group A game. Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, who was left on the bench, wasn't risked as he continues to recover from the shoulder injury he picked up in the Champions League final.
Morocco 0-1 Iran
Iran won their first World Cup match since 1998 as Aziz Bouhaddouz's 95th-minute own goal sunk Morocco 1-0 in St Petersburg.
Portugal 3-3 Spain
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a dramatic late free-kick to complete his first World Cup hat-trick and rescue a 3-3 draw for Portugal against Spain.
Moment of the day
Apologies to Iran and Uruguay, but the drama of Ronaldo's late free-kick leveller against Spain just outweighs the late winners scored earlier in the day.
Uruguay and Iran celebrated their injury-time winners wildly - and rightly so - but Ronaldo's fantastic free-kick will go down as one of the moments of the World Cup.
The captain's hat-trick sealing set-piece salvaged a draw for his country and capped a thrilling contest.
The key quotes
We wanted to avoid risks in this match [with Salah], but I think he will be fine for the next game.
Our strategy was from the first minute to create a mental collapse in the Morocco players. I'm sure they did not expect a tough, courageous team from Iran.
We are not the favourites so we will try to do our best. The team is doing very well and we are going to do well for sure.
Stat of the day
Tweet of the day
England's Group G rivals Belgium are preparing to face Panama in their World Cup opener - and Liverpool 'keeper Simon Mignolet reckons he and his team-mates are on song...
What were England up to?
Marcus Rashford was back in England training on Friday - but he will not be starting against Tunisia, according to Sky sources. The Manchester United man seems set to miss out, with Raheem Sterling expected to play off Harry Kane.
Elsewhere, Ashley Young looks to have beaten Danny Rose in the race for the left-back spot, while Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard and Harry Maguire have also had the nod. You can get the latest on the expected England line-up here.
In the news
France don't play until Saturday, but their striker Antoine Griezmann has been making headlines on his own over the past 24 hours or so after announcing he will be staying at Atletico Madrid in unusual style.
The forward was a transfer target for Barcelona but revealed his new deal with the capital club in a special 30-minute TV show called 'The Decision' on Thursday night.
"It's now a weight off him before the World Cup. And that's a positive for us," said France coach Didier Deschamps. "I didn't know anything about the television show. To be honest with you, I already have a lot of other things to occupy myself with at the moment..."
And finally...
What's that droning noise emanating from St Petersburg? Oh great, it's the incessant, unrelenting and immensely irritating return of vuvuzelas to the World Cup! They were banned from Brazil 2014 after dominating the atmosphere at South Africa 2010, but they were back with a vengeance throughout Morocco v Iran.
Come on everyone, join in: HONNNNNNNNKKKKK!
Who plays on Saturday?
France v Australia (Group C) - Kazan, 11am
Argentina v Iceland (Group D) - Moscow (Spartak), 2pm
Peru v Denmark (Group C) - Saransk, 5pm
Croatia v Nigeria (Group D) - Kaliningrad, 8pm
