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#1 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Group-Stage: Spain-3 Portugal-3
It was an all-Iberian clash in Sochi which provided the early fireworks at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Ronaldo capitalized on a blunder by Spain goalkeeper David de Gea to open the scoring from the spot after just 4 minutes on the clock, and that marked the earliest goal conceded by Spain at a World Cup.
Diego Costa equalized for the 2010 champions midway through the second half, but Ronaldo's second of the match, on the cusp of halftime, gave Portugal a 2-1 lead.
Spain restored parity again through Costa and when Ronaldo's Madrid teammate Nacho Fernandez found the back of the net with a spectacular long-ranger at the hour mark, Spain were ahead for the first time in the game.
As Spain began to harbour thoughts of taking all three points with the game moving into the final three minutes of regulation time, in stepped the Portugal captain.
When Ronaldo was fouled on the edge of the Spain penalty box, the talismanic captain arose to curl in a superb freekick to beat De Gea and Spain for the third time in the match. Portugal snatched a share of the spoils in an entertaining six-goal thriller in the Black Sea resort city, and they had their captain to thank for that.
It marked the first time in 45 attempts that Ronaldo scored off a freekick at the Euros or World Cup, while becoming the first player ever to score in eight consecutive international tournaments (2004 Euros to 2018 FIFA World Cup). Ronaldo also emulated Pele, Uwe Seeler and Miroslav Klose as the only players to score in four different World Cup tournaments.
