Goals of the Russia 2018 World Cup - 2 Quiz

Answer: Diego Costa

Portugal vs Spain was played on June 15, and it was the second match of Group B. Cristiano Ronaldo had put Portugal in the lead twice, first through an early penalty and then through a shot from outside the box. Diego Costa scored earlier in the match, and in the second opportunity he got, 10 minutes into the second half, he made the most out of an assist by Sergio Busquets and gave Spain hope. With this goal, Diego Costa became the fifth player to score two goals in a single World Cup match against Portugal, joining Bobby Charlton, Abderrazak Khairi, Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Thomas Müller.

Diego Costa was born in Lagarto, Brazil in 1988. Even though he played a couple of friendly matches with the Brazil national team, he decided to play for Spain instead, after obtaining Spanish citizenship. As you would expect, the Brazilian FA did not take this move well, and went as far as declaring Costa "persona non grata" in Brazilian football.

Answer: Real Madrid

When it looked like the Portuguese defense had successfully kicked the ball out of the danger zone, the rebound got to Nacho, who marvelously shot the ball into the net. Nacho, whose full name is Jose Ignacio Fernandez Iglesias, was born in Madrid, Spain on January 18, 1990. Nacho played in the Real Madrid youth squad for a long time, and was promoted to the first team in 2011. Since then, he has played multiple League, Cup, and international fixtures with the Spanish national team. This goal in the World Cup against Portugal, which put Spain 3-2 in the lead, was his first international goal. It was also the first Spanish goal from outside the box in a World Cup since David Villa's in 2010.

Real Madrid is a Spanish sports organization that has successful football and basketball teams. The team is one of the organizations with most fans and championships in Spain, and play in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium (named after a former player, manager, and president of the club) since 1947. They won their third consecutive Champions League trophy in 2018.

Answer: Hat-trick

With a truly spectacular goal, Cristiano Ronaldo saved Portugal from losing the match. Spanish defender Gerard Pique made a silly mistake by shoving Cristiano just outside the box close to the end of the match. Pique claimed that Ronaldo dived, but the foul was clear, and Pique should've known better given that they have played each other multiple times in Real Madrid vs Barcelona matches in the Spanish League. The Portuguese's star 51st hat-trick took the victory away from Spain, with the match ending 3-3 and each team getting just one point.

The term "hat-trick" (when a player scores three goals in one match) is not only used in football, but also in hockey and lacrosse. It is often also used in baseball, when there are three home runs in a game by a single player.

Answer: Antoine Griezmann

France vs Australia as the first match of Group C, and it was played on June 16 at the Kazan Arena. The first half was quite uneventful, with just a few goal-scoring chances and many fouls. The match would get interesting in the second half though, especially at the 58th minute. A contact by an Australian defender inside the box made Antoine Griezmann fall to the ground. Doubtful, Uruguayan referee Andres Cunha decided to check the play with VAR and view it himself in an on-the-field monitor. This was the first time in history that this technological tool was used to make a decision in a World Cup. Griezmann successfully executed the penalty.

Antoine Griezmann was born in Mâcon, France in 1991. He started his professional career in 2009, after he was scouted and recruited by Spanish club Real Sociedad. After playing there for five years, scoring more than 40 goals, he was transferred to Atletico de Madrid, a team where he won the 2018 UEFA Europa League and played the 2016 Champions League final against Real Madrid. His 21st international goal happened to be his first in a World Cup, a feat that took him 6 WC matches to accomplish.

Answer: Mile Jedinak

An uneventful first half was followed by an intense second half, and two penalties within 4 minutes couldn't be more exciting! In fact, having two consecutive penalties scored within 4 minutes had not happened since 1998 in an Argentina vs England. After a clear handball by Cameroon-born French defender Samuel Umtiti, the referee called a penalty for Australia without consulting the VAR. Mile Jedinak did not waste the chance, and scored for a temporary 1-1 draw.

Mile Jedinak is an Australian midfielder, born in Camperdown, New South Wales on August 3, 1984. He started his professional career in Sydney United in 2001, and since then he has been in other clubs such as Turkish club Gençlerbirliği, and English teams Crystal Palace and Aston Villa. This was not Jedinak's first goal with Australia in a World Cup, as he also scored against the Netherlands in Brazil 2014.

Answer: Aziz Behich

Paul Pogba kicked the ball, but it bounced on the leg of defender Aziz Behich, leaving no chances for goalkeeper Matt Ryan. Even though the goal was initially given to Pogba, further review by FIFA decided to make this the second own goal of the tournament, after the one in Morocco-Iran, which was interestingly also scored by someone called Aziz (Bouhaddouz). Goal-line technology was also used in this goal to determine whether the ball was in, which made this the first match in World Cup history to use both VAR and goal-line technology.

Aziz Behich was born in Melbourne, Australia, but his parents were of Turkish-Cypriot roots, meaning that Behich could've chosen to play for Turkey or Cyprus instead of Australia. The defender has played for several Australian clubs, and was signed by Turkish team Bursaspor in 2013. Behich was part of the Australian squad that won the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Answer: Sergio Aguero

Nothing had really happened in the first match of Group D until the 19th minute, when Marcos Rojo loosely kicked the ball and after a struggle with the Icelandic defense, Sergio Aguero used his left foot to powerfully kick the ball into the net. Aguero needed nine World Cup games to score his first goal in the competition, and by doing so, he became the second Manchester City player to score for Argentina in the tournament, after Carlos Tevez (who scored against Mexico in 2010.)

Sergio Aguero was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on June 2, 1988. "El Kun", as he is nicknamed, made his debut in Argentina in 2003 with Independiente, at the young age of 15. After three years, he was transferred to Atletico de Madrid, where he would stay until 2011. He asked to be released from his contract and then almost immediately made official his hiring by Manchester City of the Premier League. Aguero won the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Super Cup with Atletico in 2010, and has also won the Premier League with Manchester City several times.

Answer: FC Augsburg

Iceland made their debut in the most important football competition in the world in this match. The charismatic team had made a very good impression in the 2016 UEFA Euro, surprisingly knocking out England in the Round of 16. Even though most predicted Argentina would win the match, the Icelandic defense performed nicely and with a little bit of luck (Lionel Messi missed a penalty,) they were able to get one point from the match.

Alfreğ Finnbogason was born in Grindavík, Iceland on February 1, 1989. He has played for teams in Iceland, Belgium, Spain, Greece, and the Netherlands, where he was the top scorer of the 2013-2014 Eredivisie when playing for Heerenveen. In 2016, shortly after being loaned from Real Sociedad, FC Augsburg made his loan permanent. FC Augsburg was promoted to the Bundesliga in 2011 for the first time since its foundation in 1907, and competed in the early stages of the 2015-2016 Europa League.

Answer: Denmark

Peru vs Denmark was the second match of Group C, after France vs Australia. This was a very special day for both squads, since they returned to a World Cup after long period of absence (Peru for 36 years and Denmark for 8 years.) Unfortunately for Peru, their long-awaited debut was not a good one, since they missed several opportunities, including a penalty kick, and couldn't score in the match. At 59', Danish star Christian Eriksen built a fantastic play, and Yussuf Poulsen finished for the decisive 1-0.

Yussuf Yurary Poulsen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on June 15, 1994 (meaning his birthday was one day before this match!) He began his professional career in Danish club Lyngby BK, and in 2013, he moved to Germany to play for RB Leipzig in the German third division. The team was promoted to the Bundesliga in 2016. The 2018 World Cup was the fifth time that the "Danish Dynamite", as the national football team is nicknamed, qualified for a World Cup. One of the greatest Danish players in history is goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, father of Kasper Schmeichel, who was Denmark's goalkeeper in Russia 2018.

Answer: It was an own goal

Croatia vs Nigeria was played on June 16, marking the first time these two teams faced each other in a World Cup. Nothing had really happened in the match until the 32nd minute, when Croatia got a corner kick that Luka Modric took. Mario Mandzukic looked for the ball but it was Oghenekaro Etebo who ended up pushing the ball into his own net, thus scoring the third own goal of the World Cup. This happening turned Nigeria into the first team ever to score two back-to-back own goals in World Cups, considering that they had also scored one in Brazil 2014.

Oghenekaro Etebo is a midfielder born in Lagos, Nigeria on November 9, 1995. He started his professional career in Warri Wolves in his home country, after which he played for Portuguese team Feirense and Spanish side UD Las Palmas. He signed with English team Stoke City in 2018.