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
Stat of the day
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.
0:49 Ruben Loftus-Cheek says the England players have not been told who is starting against Tunisia on Monday but he is preparing to give his all if called upon
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…”
0:14 France head coach Didier Deschamps is pleased Antoine Griezmann has chosen to stay at Atletico Madrid
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
Also See:
Sourse: skysports.com
