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World Cup 2018 Scores: Latest Results and Saturday's Schedule
June 15, 2018
Jose Gimenez scored a last-minute goal to give Uruguay a 1-0 win over Egypt in the first of three 2018 FIFA World Cup matches on Friday.
Iran also grabbed their first win hours later, as the unfortunate Aziz Bouhaddouz scored a late own-goal for Morocco. In the final match of the day, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a hat-trick in a 3-3 draw against Spain.
Friday's Schedule
Egypt 0-1 Uruguay
Morocco 0-1 Iran
Portugal 3-3 Spain
Saturday's Matches
1 p.m. local time/11 a.m. BST/6 a.m. ET: France vs. Australia
4 p.m. local time/2 p.m. BST/9 a.m. ET: Argentina vs. Iceland
7 p.m. local time/5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET: Peru vs. Denmark
9 p.m. local time/8 p.m. BST/5 p.m. ET: Croatia vs. Nigeria
After the spectacular opener on Thursday, in which Russia demolished Saudi Arabia 5-0, Friday's first match was hardly a showpiece.
Gimenez's late headed goal gave Group A favourites Uruguay a narrow win, but according to Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe, it is clear La Celeste have some issues to resolve moving forward:
Egypt were always expected to defend with all their might without the services of Mohamed Salah, who sat on the bench for the full contest. The Pharaohs are clearly not the same team without their star man but did well to hold off Uruguay until the 90th minute.
Things could have gone differently in Friday's opening mach if Luis Suarez had been on point, however. The Barcelona man was frustrating, missing numerous good chances.
Football writer David Cartlidge was most impressed with Uruguay defender Diego Godin, who barely set a foot wrong:
The two-time world champions are expected to qualify comfortably from Group A, and they are on plenty of dark-horse lists to make a deep run in the tournament. They will have to do much better against some of the tournament's top teams, but there is plenty of time for them to grow into the tournament.
Egypt came close to earning a vital point in the race for second place, but it seems they will have to earn their ticket to the next round in a direct confrontation with Russia. Those two teams will do battle on Tuesday, and Salah's status for that match could prove vital.
In Group B, Morocco and Iran also served up a drab affair, and while the African side had the better chances and likely deserved the win, it was Iran who grabbed all three points after Bouhaddouz turned the ball into his own net.
As shared by Sport Witness, the Atlas Lions couldn't believe it:
Morocco's lack of an ace striker was painfully obvious, as the likes of Hakim Ziyech and Mbark Boussoufa created enough chances to earn their side at least one goal. The team did plenty of damage with crosses but could never find the breakthrough, which made the last-minute setback all the more deflating.
Bouhaddouz, who came on late as a substitute, connected with a cross to head into his own net and hand Iran their second ever World Cup win. The result gave the side an advantage over the rest of Group B, with Portugal and Spain dropping points later in the day.
Fans were in for a treat when the Iberian rivals met in the day's most anticipated contest, with Ronaldo scoring three goals, Diego Costa bagging two and both teams putting on a show in their respective style.
For Portugal, it was all about pace, strong counter-attacking football and the remarkable talents of Ronaldo. Former England international Rio Ferdinand loved it:
Spain used clever movement and passing to work their way back into the match, although it was the brute strength of Costa that led to the equaliser.
La Roja were the better side for long stretches, but their good play was offset by several individual errors. The worst of these came from star goalkeeper David De Gea, who let a relatively easy shot slip through his fingers.
Nacho also gave away a penalty, while Gerard Pique's late foul on Ronaldo set the stage for his perfect free-kick.