Bruno Fernandez’s double in the second half led Portugal to the World Cup round of 16, joining France and Brazil, following beating Uruguay 2-0 on Monday.
Fernandez sent a cross pass to Cristiano Ronaldo, who tried to head it into the net in the 54th minute, but the ball that penetrated the goal without touching Ronaldo’s head was awarded a Fernandez goal.
Fernandez converted a penalty kick in stoppage time to put his team into the knockout stages, with one game remaining at the end of the group stage.
Portugal took most of the match in Group H, but struggled to create clear chances until the second half in a match in which Uruguay seemed exhausted and lacked perfection.
This was the third time that Portugal won two consecutive matches in the group stage at the World Cup finals, and the team’s journey continued in the previous two times to the semi-finals.
Ronaldo controlled the tempo of the game with some spectacular movements at the start when he used his shoulder to pass the ball to his teammate, William Carvalho, who fired a shot over the bar.
Portugal threatened Uruguay but struggled to create goal-scoring chances, with Bernardo Silva, Fernandez and Joao Felix frustrated in front of goal early on.
But the best chances of the first half went to Uruguay in the 32nd minute when Rodrigo Bentancur recovered the ball and ran halfway past three defenders before his low shot was parried by advancing goalkeeper Diogo Costa.
Minutes later, Bentancur met a cross pass from the left from Matias Oliveira, to pass it to Darwin Nunez, who failed to shoot from close range.
Portugal fought hard for the opening goal and Felix came close in the 52nd minute when he sent a low shot into the side-netting.
In the end, the goal came via a cross from Fernandez inside the penalty area that Ronaldo tried to touch with his head, but it deceived the goalkeeper, Sergio Rochette, and the ball fell into his own net as Ronaldo ran to celebrate the goal.
Uruguay tried to return to the match following several substitutions, as Facundo Plisteri made an immediate impact, and Luis Suarez came close to hitting the net and Maxi Gomez hit the post.
But the match was decided by Portugal and Fernandez, who calmly executed a penalty kick in stoppage time following a handball in the area that required the use of the video assistant referee.
Fernandez came close to scoring his third personal goal in stoppage time, but his attempt was blocked by goalkeeper Rochette near the post, and his shot in the final moments bounced off the post.
