Wednesday June 20th

Group B

Ronaldo sends Morocco home

Portugal 1 Morocco 0 (Moscow)
An early goal by Cristiano Ronaldo sealed Morocco's fate as they suffered their second 1-0 defeat in group B. Ronaldo lost his marker and flung himself to head in a cross in the 4th minute while at the other end in the 11th minute the Portuguese keeper got down on the line to hold a header from Da Costa. In the 39th minute Ronaldo lifted the ball over the Moroccan backline for Guedes to shoot but El Kajoui stood firm and saved with one hand. Belhanda's powerful shot in the 56th minute was too close to Patricio who a minute later made a magnificent save to keep out an awkward header from the same player. Morocco had plenty of possession but their determination to succeed was not matched by their finishing skill.

Group A

Suarez goal settles group

Uruguay 1 Saudi Arabia 0 (Rostov on Don)

A single goal for Uruguay against Saudi Arabia was enough to see them though with hosts Russia while Saudi Arabia and Egypt were eliminated. A corner in the 23rd minute was turned in by Luis Suarez from 6 yards out for the only goal of the match. Muslera tipped a shot from Hatan over the bar in the 26th minute and 3 minutes later the same player got on the end of a cross but hit the ball into the crowd. Alowais got down to punch away a free-kick from Suarez in the 51st minute and in the 62nd minute saw Cavani's beautifully weighted cross fly over the bar from a Sanchez diving header on the 6-yard line. With 4 minutes to go, Cavani ran into the box, but his shot on the turn was blocked by the Saudi keeper.

Group B

Spain breach Iranian defence

Spain 1 Iran 0 (Kazan)

An Iranian side hell-bent on not conceding, lost 1-0 to Spain in Kazan. The Iranians defended tooth and claw and didn't let the Spaniards get anywhere near their goal in the first half. In the 49th minute Beiranvand clumsily saved a shot from Vazquez but did well to knock the loose ball out for a corner. A throw-in for Iran in the 53rd was knocked down in the box but Ansarifard's fierce volley hit the wrong side of the net and a minute later Diego Costa turned in the box allowing a defensive toe-poke to ricochet off him and past Beiranvand to break the deadlock. Iran came out of their shells after the goal and had a goal disallowed by VAR for offside in the 62nd minute. In the 70th minute, a low corner-kick was cut back and resulted in a scramble on the Iran goal-line, but with 8 minutes remaining Iran came close to levelling the score when Amiri nutmegged Pique and delivered a cross, but Taremi headed over from inside the 6-yard box.