Having seen Lionel Messi ($10.0m), Kylian Mbappe ($10.5m) and Erling Haaland ($10.5m) rack up 13 goals between them in one week, Cristiano Ronaldo ($10.0m) was feeling the pressure to announce his arrival at this World Cup.

So when he netted past Uzbekistan on Tuesday – ending a personal streak, while also creating history – you could sense the relief. Shouting “I’m back!” into the camera was a not-so-subtle clue.

The veteran grabbed a second by half-time, as Portugal romped to a 5-0 Group K win over Uzbekistan in Houston.

We reflect on this game in our Scout Notes, which features match stats from our World Cup Toolkit page.

PORTUGAL 5-0 UZBEKISTAN

• Goals: Ronaldo x2, Nuno Mendes, Rafael Leao
• Own goals: Nematov
• Assists: Cancelo, Neto, Fernandes, Semedo
• Shot on target bonus: Ronaldo
• Chances created bonus: Fernandes
• Top points scorers: Nuno Mendes (15), Ronaldo (14), Dias (9), Rafael Leao (9), Veiga (8), Fernandes (7), Diogo Costa (7)

TEAM STATS

SCOUT NOTES

• Firstly, team news. Portugal made two changes from their 1-1 draw against DR Congo. Ruben Dias ($5.0m) and Joao Felix ($6.5m) started over Tomas Araujo ($4.1m) and Bernardo Silva ($7.8m). At half-time, off went Joao Cancelo ($5.3m) and Pedro Neto ($6.4m).
• Uzbekistan made three line-up changes: Abduvokhid Nematov ($4.0m), Odiljon Hamrobekov ($5.3m) and Aziz G’aniev ($5.3m) for Utkir Yusupov ($3.9m), Akmal Mozgovoy ($4.7m) and Oston Urunov ($5.6m).
• It took just six minutes for Ronaldo to get on the scoresheet. Neto and Cancelo linked up out wide, the latter’s cross being met by a crisp near-post finish. Having endured a 10-game run without any international tournament goals, he’s suddenly the first-ever individual to score at six different World Cups (albeit four of them brought only one strike). Furthermore, he’s the second 41-year-old to net on the biggest stage (after Roger Milla in 1994).
• When Neto was fouled on the edge of the penalty area, everyone assumed Ronaldo would take the free-kick. He did his usual routine of dramatically stepping backwards, standing with legs apart and taking a deep breath – only for Nuno Mendes ($5.8m) to shoot and score. A very clever decoy, where the 37.5%-owned defender gained an extra point for it being a set-piece.
• Bruno Fernandes ($8.5m) sits in 41.5% of squads. He slipped right before a second-minute shot, which diverted it off target, but he was still able to collect an assist, plus two more points for chance creation. Right before the interval, his through ball allowed Ronaldo to calmly slot a first-time shot into the far corner. Even closer to half-time, Ronaldo was denied a third when a defender cleared an effort off the line.

“When we scored the goal in the opening ​match we lost the discipline, the shape. We gave the ⁠opponent chances to counter and we didn’t make it to the final third. We fought ​with our heart rather than our head. Today it was the other way around. ​It was very disciplined.” – Roberto Martinez

• Not content with the smart free-kick routine that brought Mendes’ goal, the team’s two main superstars tried another one. Ronaldo stepped over the ball and slowly jogged into the box, as Fernandes pretended to discuss plans. But he quickly dinked it towards his teammate. From the resulting corner came a moment of misfortune. An untidy scramble last hit the goalkeeper Nematov, making it 4-0.
• At this point, Portugal were doing everything possible to gift Ronaldo a hat-trick. He accumulated seven shots, five on target (for two more points) and three big misses. Instead, the closing goal came from substitute Rafael Leao ($7.5m). A cross from Nelson Semedo ($4.3m) deflected off a defender, but Leao was there to bury his effort into the top corner.
• Looking back, this non-contest could have been more than 5-0. Portugal responded greatly to the disappointing DR Congo result. Only a win over Colombia will see them finish first, which would provide a third-placed knockout opponent rather than Group L’s runner-up (likely Croatia or Ghana).
• As for Uzbekistan, things might have turned out better had G’aniev’s lovely strike from distance not been disallowed for a teammate’s foul. That would have made it 2-1. Instead, their goal difference is -7. Fabio Cannavaro’s side can still reach the Round of 32, but it requires a win over DR Congo and four other third-placed teams to be below three points.
• Finally, a shout-out for Eldor Shomurodov ($6.5m) and his match-high of four key passes.