(Football news) Coming into the last match of their World Cup group stage, South Korea needed to beat Portugal and hope for a Uruguay victory by a small margin. The stars aligned for Korea as they secured a spot in the Round of 16. Portugal lined up with a significantly weaker XI but veterans Pepe and Cristiano Ronaldo did play. Ricardo Horta scored inside 5 minutes to give Portugal the lead. After an early spell of possession, Portugal lost their way a little and conceded an equalizer in the 27th minute. Young-Gwon Kim scored from a corner after a deflection by Cristiano Ronaldo. 

In the dying minutes of the game, Heung-Min Son assisted Hwang Hee-Chan in incredible fashion to seal the victory. Portugal looked out of touch which is expected as they played with pretty much their 2nd choice team. Cristiano Ronaldo had a forgetful outing which he will be hoping to put aside before the knockouts. Uruguay defeated Ghana 2-0 but they needed another goal to secure qualification which didn’t happen. Ghana was awarded a controversial penalty in the 21st minute which was missed by Andre Ayew. Giorgian De Arrascaeta in his first start at the World Cup scored twice as Luis Suarez was involved in both the goals. 

Uruguay needed another goal to keep their World Cup but couldn’t get one. There was a potential foul on Edinson Cavani in the penalty area towards the end. The referee didn’t deem it as a foul and neither did VAR. The Uruguay team was very unhappy with the official after full time as they surrounded him until he made it into the tunnel. Uruguayan veterans Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez faced an early elimination in what is likely to be their last World Cup. South Korea were overjoyed with the result and will take on Brazil in the next round. Despite the loss, Portugal finished top and they will face Switzerland in the Round of 16.

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