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The events of Tuesday at the marked a milestone that football has never witnessed: Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player in history to score goals in six different World Cups, while Colombia secured their spot in the Round of 16 and Panamá was eliminated.
The Portuguese captain scored a brace in the thrashing of Portugal against Uzbekistan, 5-0, at the NRG Stadium in Houston, in what was a commanding performance that dispelled the doubts raised after the draw in the debut match.
With those two goals, Ronaldo accumulates 10 goals in World Cups across the editions of 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026, surpassing Eusébio's nine and establishing himself as the all-time leading scorer for Portugal in the competition. No other footballer had previously managed to score in six different World Cup tournaments.
Uzbekistan, making its debut at the world tournament, has been mathematically eliminated after suffering its second consecutive defeat and finishing the day with no points in the Group K of the 2026 World Cup.
Portugal has reached four points and is in control of its fate to secure the group leadership in the final match, which will pit them against Colombia on June 27 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
Colombia, for its part, no longer has to wait: the coffee growers defeated the Democratic Republic of the Congo 1-0 at the Akron Stadium in Guadalajara and secured their qualification with six points and two victories in two matches.
The decisive goal came in the 76th minute, scored by Daniel Muñoz, although the score did not reflect the Colombian superiority: the South Americans managed to score four goals, but three were ruled out for offside.
The DR Congo, which did not register its first shot on target until the 85th minute, was eliminated without having earned a single point in two matches.
In Group L, Panamá was eliminated from the tournament after losing 1-0 to Croatia at BMO Field in Toronto.
The only goal of the match was scored by Ante Budimir, who with that strike became the oldest goal scorer for Croatia in a World Cup.
The Panamanians showed intensity and good movement along the flanks, but they lacked precision in the final third to translate their effort into clear goal-scoring opportunities.
Croatia reached three points and still has options to advance ahead of the final matchday of Group L, while Panama finishes its participation in the World Cup 2026 with one point.
In the other group match, England was unable to take the opportunity to secure their qualification and drew 0-0 with Ghana at Gillette Stadium in Boston.
Harry Kane had a subdued performance, and the changes made by coach Thomas Tuchel were unable to break the defensive solidity of the Africans, who secured a valuable point to keep their hopes alive.
After the matchday, both England and Ghana have accumulated four points each in Group L, with the group's outcome being postponed to the third date of June 27.
Ronaldo's record, achieved at the age of 41 in what is considered his final World Cup appearance, is deemed by experts as "almost impossible to surpass" due to the extraordinary longevity required to score in six different World Cup editions.
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