2018 World Cup might be the last chance for Cristiano Ronaldo to lead Portugal to the title, and he certainly decided to play like that. Ronaldo scored a hat-trick to help Portugal get a 3-3 draw against Spain in a game that proved to be worthy of being considered the most exciting matchup in the first round of the tournament.
Everything clicked for the Portugal national soccer team at the very start of the match, since Spain’s Nacho fouled Cristiano Ronaldo in the penalty area in 4′ minute and referee Gianluca Rocchi had no choice but to award a penalty. Ronaldo took the ball himself and converted the penalty to give Portugal an early lead.
Spain’s players didn’t lose their composure and scored an equalizer 20 minutes later from a fantastic solo action by Diego Costa. Spain national soccer team continued to dominate the game, but it was Cristiano Ronaldo who scored again in 44′ minute to get the lead back for his team.
10 minutes in the second half, Diego Costa returned the favor and brought Spain back level once again in 55′ minute. While Portugal was recovering from Costa’s second goal, they managed to concede one more three minutes later, when Nacho gave Spain the 3-2 lead.
It looked like Portugal was bound to lose the game, but two minutes before the end of regular time; Cristiano Ronaldo came through once again. He was fouled right outside the penalty area in 88′ minute, took the responsibility once again, and scored a beautiful goal from the free kick to tie the game 3-3, which ultimately proved to be the final score.
“It was a good result,” – said Ronaldo after the match. “We sacrificed a lot but we believed in ourselves right to the end. This is just the first match. It was a very difficult game.“
After today’s game, Cristiano Ronaldo became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in World Cup history at 33. He is also now tied with Ferenc Puskas for the most international goals scored by a European player.
In two other games played on the second day of 2018 World Cup, Uruguay has beaten Egypt 1-0, while Iran defeated Morocco with the same score.
You can check out the highlights from all three games below.
