Portugal wins its opening World Cup match. Ronaldo and the team defeat the Black Stars in a thriller to win Group H.
Ronaldo’s strike made history by becoming him the first male player to ever score at five different World Cups. In spite of Ghana’s goalkeeper correctly estimating the penalty in the 65th minute, Ronaldo shoots the penalty to the right of Zigi and defeats him with pure force.
Before Portugal’s Joao Felix and Rafael Leao scored in close succession to make it 3-1, Andre Ayew got the equalizer for Ghana.
Osman Bukari, a substitute, gave Ghana some hope with an 89th-minute goal.
Group H’s leader in Portugal.
Goals:
- POR — Ronaldo (65 mins, penalty)
- GHA — Andre Ayew (73 mins)
- POR — Joao Felix (78 mins)
- POR — Rafael Leao (80 mins)
- GHA — Osman Bukari (89 mins)
starting positions:
Right to left, Portugal (4-1-2-1-2): 22. Costa (GK) — 20. Cancelo, 4. Dias, Danilo Pereira 13. Guerreiro (5) — 8. Fernandes, 18. Neves (Rafael Leao 77′), 7. Ronaldo (26. Goncalo Ramos 88′), 11. Joao Felix (17. Joao Mario 88′), 25. Otavio (14. William Carvalho 56′), 10. Bernardo Silva (6. Joao Palhinha 88′), and 7.
Ghana (5-4-1, from right to left): 1. Ati-Zigi (GK) — 26. Seidu (25. Semenyo 90+2′), 23. Djiku, 18. Amartey, 2. Salisu, 4, and Rahman, 17 — 5. Party, 20. Kudus (11. Bukari 77′), 19. Williams; 21. Abdul Samed (8. Kyereh 90+2′), 10. A. Ayew (9. J. Ayew 77′).
From the opening whistle, Portugal grabbed control of the game and nearly earned a goal for their early dominance of possession when Ronaldo was stopped by Lawrence Ati-Zigi and then missed the far post moments later.
Just past the halfway point, Ronaldo put the ball in the Ghana goal with one of his normally composed finishes. However, the Portugal captain was found to have fouled Alexander Djiku as he twisted on the ball, and the goal was disallowed.
Ronaldo was brought down by Mohammed Salisu early in the second half, giving Portugal a wonderful opportunity to score their 118th international goal. Ronaldo stepped up to the spot and converted the penalty.
Ghana’s response was robust. Before escaping down the left and sending in a low cross that deflected off Danilo Pereira and fell perfectly for Andre Ayew to turn the ball in from close range, Kudus pricked Diogo Costa’s palms.
It was Portugal’s turn to respond this time, and they duly scored twice in three minutes to secure the victory. Both goals were masterminded by Bruno Fernandes, who threaded passes through the Ghana defense for Joao Felix and Rafael Leao, the latter scoring his first goal for
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Osman Bukari’s goal in the 89th minute gave Ghana some new life, and he celebrated by mocking Cristiano Ronaldo. At the very end, Inaki Williams skillfully picked out Costa, but he slipped as he attempted to creep in ahead of the goalie, costing Ghana the chance to steal a point.
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