Day nine saw us bid farewell to the four-game madness of the World Cup, with all fixtures from Tuesday running concurrently ahead of the knockout stages.
We went out in style as Cameroon clawed a dramatic draw with Serbia and Ghana sealed an entertaining victory over South Korea, before Brazil and Portugal both won to seal their spots in the knockout stages.
Here’s how the day played out.
Portugal advanced to the knockout stages with a 1-0 victory over Uruguay on Monday evening.
A scrappy first half saw Portugal dominate possession but concede the best chance to Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, who had a handful of good opportunities to open the scoring inside a cagey first half.
After the break, Portugal got the goal they were looking for, but in confusing fashion.
Did Ronaldo touch it?
A Bruno Fernandes cross was floated into the box and Cristiano Ronaldo leapt highest and wheeled away in celebration as the ball hit the back of the net. Replays showed, however, that he may not have touched the ball.
The stadium announcer gave the goal to Fernandes but FIFA credited Ronaldo, only to go back on themselves ten minutes later and award the strike to Fernandes.
There was no doubting the scorer of the second, however, as Fernandes tapped home a penalty to seal the victory.
Brazil sealed their spot in the knockout stages of the World Cup with the ugliest of victories over Switzerland at Stadium 974.
A game devoid of any real quality was brought to life five minutes from time thanks to a glorious strike from Casemiro, whose fizzing half-volley finally beat Yann Sommer and booked the Selecao’s place in the next round.
It was an ugly first half for Brazil, who looked devoid of quality in the absence of Neymar, and Switzerland did a superb job of keeping them at bay.
A tough start to life without Neymar
Vinicius Junior thought he’d opened the scoring around the hour mark but the automated offside system clocked Richarlison had wandered earlier in the move and ruled it out.
It seemed as though a bore draw was on the cards before Casemiro found his way into the box and drilled home the winner.
South Korea are facing an early elimination after a dramatic 3-2 defeat to Ghana.
The Asian side were dominant in the first 20 minutes without really asking any questions of Ghana, who took a surprise lead…
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