Qatar 2022: Bruno Fernandez At Brace As Portugal Dispatch Uruguay

A victory for Portugal was going to be enough to qualify for the next round, it was exactly what was done by Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates.

The 2016 European champions won 2-0 thanks to a brace from Bruno Fernandez.

The Portuguese purred in the first period and could even have conceded the opener if Diogo Costa had not made a very good stop from Rodrigo Betancur’s 33rd minute strike.

They joined France and Brazil, as one of three countries already qualified for the round of 16.

Ten minutes after returning from the locker room, it was finally Portugal who took the lead thanks to Bruno Fernandes. Ronaldo initially claimed it but the forward did not touch his teammate’s cross.

At the very end of the match, the referee was called to view the VAR for a Uruguayan hand in the box. With Cristiano Ronaldo out substituted, Bruno Fernandes took charge and converted the penalty by taking goalkeeper Rochet the wrong way. With a double, Bruno Fernandez was voted man of the match.

There was however some bad news for Portugal as Nuno Mendes left the field injured.

The PSG player had missed the first match against Ghana due to muscle fatigue. Five minutes from half-time, he lay down before leaving, in tears, and giving way to Raphaël Guerreiro.

Portugal will play their third match of the group stage against South Korea in four days.