The Portuguese national football team provisionally took sole possession of first place in Group K of the 2026 World Cup today by thrashing Uzbekistan 5-0 during their second-round group stage match in Houston, United States.
Following a -1 draw against the Democratic Republic of Congo in their opening fixture, Portugal secured the victory with a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo (6th and 39th minutes).
With these goals, Ronaldo became the first player in football history to score in six different World Cups and established himself as Portugal’s all-time top scorer in the tournament’s final stages with 10 goals. The remaining goals came from Nuno Mendes (17th), an autogoal by Uzbek goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov (60th), and a late strike from Rafael Leão (87th).
Read more about this topic: World Cup: Cristiano Ronaldo overtakes Eusébio and climbs into top 10 scorers (with videos)
With this result, the Portuguese squad reaches four points in the standings. This puts them one point ahead of Colombia, who will face the third-placed Congolese side (one point) later tonight, while Uzbekistan remains at the bottom of the group with zero points.
Group K standings (live, at 22:00)
| Position | Team | Matches | Points |
| 1st | Portugal | 2 | 4 |
| 2nd | Colombia | 1 | 3 |
| 3rd | DR Congo | 1 | 1 |
| 4th | Uzbekistan | 2 | 0 |
Colombia and DR Congo will play their second-round match later tonight to complete the fixture block.
