World Cup 2022 day nine: Brazil and Portugal are already in the 1/8 finals

The World Cup in Qatar is not the most predictable. So on the final day of the second round of the group stage, the most spectacular game was shown by no means by those from whom it was expected in the first place.

Cameroon - Serbia - 3:3

After an incomprehensible game with the Brazilians, the Serbs had to prove that it was just an accident. And they almost made it. More than a hundred Russian fans arrived in Qatar to support the fraternal team, but for sure, many sympathized with Cameroon, because our compatriot Gael Ondua plays there. However, he appeared in the 67th minute, when all six goals had already been scored.

At the 29th minute, Jean-Charles Castelletto put the Africans ahead, but the Serbs turned everything around in injury time of the first half thanks to goals from Strahini Pavlovic and Sergei Milinkovic-Savic. And at the beginning of the second half, Aleksandar Mitrovic gave the feeling that the game had already been done. This feeling brought down the Serbian national team: goals from Vincent Abubakar (63) and Erik Choupo-Motinga (66) restored the balance. In the end, Mitrovic could again swing the scales towards his team, but he ruined two moments. Both teams are disappointed, but the fans definitely did not lose.

South Korea - Ghana - 2:3

These guys also gave fire in Qatar, showing an uncompromising game. The Ghanaians looked good even against the background of Portugal, and this was not an optical illusion.

However, in this match the initiative was owned by the Koreans, but the Africans demonstrated an unthinkable realization of the moments: they hit Kim Seung-gyu on target three times and scored three goals. They were 2-0 up after the first half thanks to goals from Mohammed Salis (24) and Mohammed Kudus (34). But the Koreans stepped up the pressure after the break, and Cho Gyu Song hit the gates of the Ghanaians twice in three minutes. But Kudus got involved again, scoring the winning goal in the 68th minute. In the end, the Ghanaian team did nothing but fight off Korean attacks, but kept the score.

Brazil - Switzerland - 1:0

The five-time world champions had a much harder time than in the previous match against Serbia. In the first half, having taken possession of the territorial advantage, the Brazilians could not start creating chances in any way - the last transfer and a good finish were missing. As a result, the only one was the blow of Vinicius, which was parried by the Swiss goalkeeper Jan Sommer.

It seemed that everything would end in a draw: the Brazilian national team did not puzzle the Swiss with anything special, and they did not seek to seize the initiative, hoping for counterattacks, and without creating anything dangerous. But in the end, the Selesao advantage was finally converted into a goal - Casemiro scored in the 83rd minute and made Brazil the second early participant in the playoffs. But the players are hardly satisfied with their game.

Portugal 2-0 Uruguay

Three hours later, the Portuguese also won a ticket to the playoffs. But the romantic battle did not work out. The first half was boring at all - both teams were too cautious, and the only dangerous moment after the solo passage was created by the Uruguayan Rodrigo Bentancur, and even he finished with an indistinct blow.

At the 54th minute, the red-greens took the lead: Ronaldo, like a volleyball player flying over the net with a false swing, jumped after a pass by Bruno Fernandes, but the ball didn’t catch, but he confused the goalkeeper, and the ball ended up in the goal. The Uruguayan mentor changed the attackers: Georgiana de Arrascaeta, Maxi Gomez and Luis Suarez appeared on the field, and each of them had a moment, but - unrealized. And Fernandes scored a brace in stoppage time, converting a penalty. Uruguay have zero goals, just one point and the need to beat Ghana.