HOUSTON, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Portugal cruised to a 5-0 victory over Uzbekistan in a Group K match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup here on Tuesday.
In their opening matches, Portugal was held to a 1-1 draw by DR Congo after struggling to create scoring opportunities, while Uzbekistan suffered a 3-1 defeat to Colombia.
Portugal showed a more aggressive approach than in its previous outing, and Ronaldo squandered an early opportunity in the fourth minute.
Just two minutes later, the veteran forward found another opportunity inside the box and fired a powerful shot into the net to give Portugal the lead.
Nuno Mendes added a second goal in the 17th minute, capitalizing on a free-kick opportunity to hand Portugal the 2-0 lead.
Uzbekistan stepped up its attacking efforts and found the net in the 27th minute, only for the goal to be disallowed after VAR ruled that Abbosbek Fayzullaev had fouled an opponent in the build-up.
Portugal capitalized on a counterattack in the 39th minute, with Ronaldo firing Bruno Fernandes' pass into the far corner to score his second goal and extend the lead to 3-0.
The Portuguese side continued to press forward in the second half and made it 4-0 in the 60th minute when Fernandes' corner resulted in an own goal. Rafael Leao completed the rout by scoring Portugal's fifth goal.
The victory moved Portugal to the top of Group K with four points from two matches, while Uzbekistan remained bottom of the standings after suffering its second consecutive defeat. The other Group K match between DR Congo and Colombia will be played later on Tuesday.
