Ronaldo Scores in His Sixth World Cup: Portugal 5-0 Uzbekistan

Six minutes. Six World Cups. One absurd record.

Cristiano Ronaldo turned 41 this February. On Monday night in Houston, he ran onto a through ball in the sixth minute, swept it home, and became the first player in football history to score at six different FIFA World Cups. Germany. South Africa. Brazil. Russia. Qatar. USA.

Portugal didn't stop there. They finished 5-0. Ronaldo added a second. Rafael Leão ran riot. Nuno Mendes got one too. Uzbekistan, in their first-ever World Cup, had no answer for any of it.

What actually happened

Portugal came into the match having already won their opening Group K fixture. Against Uzbekistan — a team whose entire squad cost roughly the same as Ronaldo's left boot — they played within themselves for twenty minutes, then opened the floodgates. By the hour mark it was already 4-0.

Ronaldo's first goal, in the sixth minute, sparked the obvious debate: is this the greatest footballer of all time putting a perfect bow on a perfect career? Or is it a 41-year-old still finding ways to score against sides ranked 70 places below his nation? Both things are true. Neither stops it being extraordinary.

He is now the second-oldest scorer in World Cup history. He doesn't seem to care about that kind of thing.

Group K picture

Portugal top the group with six points from two games. Colombia beat DR Congo 1-0 in the other Group K fixture on the same evening, keeping themselves within touching distance. The final matchday will decide the group order, but Portugal's path to the knockout rounds is clear.

LMS angle

Portugal were the safe, boring, obvious pick in LMS pools for Matchday 2 of Group K — and they delivered. If you used them here, well done. If you held them back, you still have one of the most reliable picking options in the tournament in your back pocket for the knockout rounds.

The trap going forward is Ronaldo fatigue. Every LMS player in the country will eye Portugal as a crutch in the Round of 32 or Round of 16. When everyone uses the same pick, there's no edge — and if Portugal somehow slip up, the entire pool gets halved at once. Save them for a moment where you genuinely need them.

The number that matters

79 minutes of football, 5 goals, 1 record. Uzbekistan managed 0 shots on target.

If you're running a Last Man Standing pool or a predictor game for the World Cup, Matchroom handles picks and results automatically — free at getmatchroom.app.