Brazil, Portugal through to knockouts as Ghana triumph in thriller

Lusail: Portugal beat Uruguay 2-0 on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) with two goals from midfielder Bruno Fernandes to become the third team after France and Brazil to qualify for the World Cup knockout stage.

The Europeans had dominated possession before Fernandes’ 54th-minute cross floated past Uruguayan goalkeeper Sergio Rochet, who was rooted to the spot as Cristiano Ronaldo rose to head the ball and initially celebrated the goal as his.

Bruno Fernandes of Portugal scores their team’s second goal.Credit: Getty Images

Fernandes scored the second in injury time after a penalty was awarded for handball following a video review.

Uruguay, who had knocked Portugal out of the 2018 World Cup, will rue a string of chances on the break: midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur skipped past three players only to see his shot brilliantly saved, Maxi Gomez hit the post and Luis Suarez shot into the side netting.

Portugal’s second win in two games put them top of Group H on six points and heading into the last 16. Uruguay, third on one point, must beat Ghana in their final group game to have a chance of progressing.

Earlier, Brazil overcame the absence of Neymar to beat Switzerland 1-0 and advance to the round 16 of the World Cup.

Casemiro scored in the 83rd minute with a shot from inside the area to put Brazil in the last 16 with a match to spare in Group G, despite the side lacking their usual flair.

Brazil striker Neymar stayed at the team’s hotel treating a right ankle injury sustained in the opener in Qatar. Team doctors have not yet given a timetable on his return – or said if he will return at all.

The win gave Brazil six points from two matches, leaving Switzerland with three. Serbia and Cameroon, who drew 3-3 earlier Monday, have one point each.

Switzerland need a win in the last match against Serbia to guarantee its spot in the next stage. A draw may be enough depending on the match between Brazil and Cameroon.

Casemiro after scoring the winner for Brazil.Credit: Getty Images

In contrast, the two earlier games overnight on Monday offered a high-scoring feast of football for World Cup fans as Cameroon came back from two goals down to draw with Serbia 3-3 and Ghana edged South Korea in a 3-2 thriller.

In Group G, Cameroon striker Vincent Aboubakar came off the bench to score one goal and set up another as the Indomitable Lions rescued a point in their draw with Serbia, ending a run of eight successive World Cup losses for the African side.

He lobbed goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic in the 64th minute and then set up striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting two minutes later.

The rollercoaster fixture leaves both sides on a single point from their two games, still just in contention for a last 16 place, although Cameroon must face Brazil in their final match on Friday, while Serbia take on Switzerland.

The thrilling draw was the first game at the World Cup in Qatar in which both teams gave up a lead, but the result suited neither side.

Jean-Charles Castelletto gave Cameroon the lead just before the half-hour mark, but a quick-fire double at the end of the first period from Strahinja Pavlovic and the hugely impressive Sergej Milinkovic-Savic swung the game in Serbia’s favour.

When Aleksandar Mitrovic added another early in the second period his side looked in complete control and cruising to a win.

But Aboubakar, top scorer at the Africa Cup of Nations finals earlier this year, turned the game around when he came off the bench.

Serbia’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal.Credit: AP

He netted a fine solo goal with an audacious chip over the keeper to reduce the deficit, before breaking forward and crossing to Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to smash in the equaliser three minutes later.

Cameroon took the lead from a set-piece after Serbia had needlessly conceded a corner. Castelletto got on the end of Nicolas N’Koulou’s flick to tap home at the back post.

Serbia levelled in first-half injury-time via a goal that was also simple in its execution. Dusan Tadic floated a free-kick into the box and Pavlovic rose highest to direct the ball into the corner of the net.

They grabbed the lead two minutes later when the Cameroon defence allowed Milinkovic-Savic time to pick his spot from the edge of the box and steered the ball into the net.

Ghana’s Mohammed Kudus celebrates scoring against South Korea.Credit: AP

The third for Serbia was a beautifully worked that was started and finished by Mitrovic. He drove towards the Cameroon box and after a succession of passes inside the penalty area, the ball was squared by Andrija Zivkovic and the burly No.9 had a simple tap-in.

That was the cue for Aboubakar to come off the bench. First he provided a perfect chip into the net for 3-2, then he beat the offside trap, raced clear and whipped over a low cross for Choupo-Moting to level the tie and keep Cameroon alive in the competition.

In the Group H, Mohammed Kudus scored twice, including the go-ahead goal after South Korea evened the match in the second half, and Ghana staved off elimination with a 3-2 victory.

Mohammed Salisu also scored for the Black Stars, who lost their opening match against Portugal and were in need of points for a chance to reach the knockout round in Qatar.

Down 2-0, Cho Geu-sung scored both of South Korea’s goals about three minutes apart early in the second half to even the game at 2-2.

South Korea forward Son Heung-min remains without a goal in Qatar. The Tottenham forward wore a mask to protect a broken left eye socket he sustained in a Champions League game against Marseille earlier in the month.

AP, Reuters

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