DOHA, Qatar (November 28) —— Brazil and Portugal scored wins on Monday to advance into the knockout round of the FIFA World Cup 2022 after the latest fixtures on Day 9. Brazil and Portugal joined defending champions France as the only teams already securing passages into the last 16.
The Selecao followed up their 2-0 win over Serbia in the opening game in Group G with a 1-0 win over Switzerland to move atop of the group with six points. The only goal of the game was scored by Manchester United midfielder Casemiro, who scored a stunning winner with seven minutes to play in the contest. Read more: World Cup 2022- Day 7 results, standings; winners and losers
In an otherwise dull encounter between the two teams, Casemiro game the South Americans lots to cheer about when the midfielder fired a first-time effort into the far corner, leaving goalkeeper Yann Sommer standing and secured the win for the five-time World Cup champions at the 974 Stadium.
“It is very clear that my very first objective is to support the team…to put out fires wherever they may be,” Casemiro said after his late goal won him the man of the match award. “But nevertheless, if there is an opportunity to take a little shot on goal, I think that’s very important,” the 30-year-old told a news conference.
Brazil are top the group on six points, three points ahead of the Switzerland and five ahead of Cameroon and Serbia, who they face in their final group game.
Meanwhile, Portugal also punched their tickets into the last 16 of the World Cup 2022 with victory over Uruguay at Lusail Stadium to move top of Group H.
A game that was bang average for most of the encounter finally saw its first goal in the 54th minute when a cross from Bruno Fernandes floated beyond Uruguay keeper Sergio Rochet to break the deadlock.
Despite Cristiano Ronaldo wheeled off celebrating and claiming that the ball had glanced off his head, the the goal given to Manchester United midfielder Fernandes, who went on to double the score from the penalty spot three-minutes into time added on.
It was Portugal’s second win in two games and the latest three points them top of Group H on six points and heading into the last 16. The defeat for Uruguay today, means they stay third on one point and must beat Ghana in their final group game to have a chance of advancing.
In the other two games today, Ghana won a five-goal thriller after outlasting South Korea 3-2 in front of a vibrant crowd at Education City Stadium, while fellow African nation Cameroon staged a dramatic comeback to earn a point in a 3-3 draw with Serbia.
The African nation grabbed a 2-0 lead through goals from Southampton defender Mohammed Salisu and Ajax’s Mohammed Kudus.
However, South Korea brought extra life to the game when they scored two stunning headers were in three minutes courtesy of the top scorer in his domestic league, Cho Gue-sung, tied the game at 2-2 after 61 minutes.
The impressive Kudus added a final twist to the contest when he scored a third for Ghana to break South Korea’s hearts and stayed alive in Group H.
In the first game of the day, Serbia recovered from an early setback to take a 3-1 lead over Cameroon before the African nation came back to collect a points in Group G.
Cameroon broke the lead through Jean-Charles Castelletto but Strahinja Pavlovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic replied to put Serbia 2-1 up a half-time.
Fulham forward Aleksandar Mitrovic added a third for the Serbians who were cruising to a win at that stage.
But Cameroon never game up and the Indomitable Lions roared back thanks to goals from Vincent Aboubakar and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting leveled the game at 3 goals apiece.
