Goals of the Russia 2018 World Cup - 5 Quiz

Answer: Mohamed Salah

By the 70th minute of the match, it had become clear that Russia had the three points in the bag, making them the undisputed leaders of Group A. In the 72nd minute, Russian defender Roman Zobnin committed a foul that the referee called a foul outside the box. Upon checking with VAR, it was determined that the foul was committed inside the box and the referee changed his decision to a penalty.

Mohamed Salah, the star of the Egyptian squad, was in charge of executing the penalty kick, and did so perfectly with a powerful shot to the center of the net. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough for Egypt to fight back and the match ended 3-1 in favor of Russia. Salah first left Egypt to play for the Swiss team Basel in 2012. He then played for Chelsea for two years, spent a brief time in Italy, and then returned to the Premier League to play for Liverpool. He has won multiple accolades with the Reds, both individually and as a team, including the Premier League, an EFL Cup, and a Puskas award for best goal of the year.

Answer: Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo is without a doubt one of the best football players in history. During the 2018 World Cup, he made sure to continue building his already impressive legacy. Cristiano received a great cross early in the match and made the most of it by scoring a goal with his head.

He had already scored an early goal in the previous match against Spain, making him the third player to ever score within the first 5 minutes of two different World Cup matches (the other two are Vavá from Brazil and Neeskens from the Netherlands).

This goal was also special because it was his 85th goal with the national team, breaking yet another record and becoming the European player with most goals in international competitions.

Answer: Uruguay

Egypt's earlier loss against Russia left Saudi Arabia with a small chance of climbing up the ranks of Group A. Unfortunately for them, they had to face the tough squad of Uruguay. In the 23rd minute, Uruguay was given a corner kick. The Saudi Arabian goalkeeper tried to catch the ball but missed, leaving the goal wide open for Luis Suarez to gently push the ball into the net. This would be the only goal of the match.

Luis Suarez is one of the most famous Uruguayan strikers in recent history. He has played for top clubs like Liverpool, Barcelona, and Atletico de Madrid. Although Suarez has won multiple accolades, he also has had his fair share of controversies. Some of these include stopping a goal by Ghana with his hand during the 2010 World Cup (which culminated in Ghana being eliminated) and biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in the 2014 World Cup.

Answer: Second half

After an electrifying 3-3 tie with Portugal, the Spanish squad was looking to gain some momentum by winning their second match against Iran. The first half was relatively uneventful and ended without any goals. Nine minutes after the start of the second half, striker Diego Costa shook off two Iranian defenders and sent the ball into the net, sealing Spain's win. Costa was born in Brazil but decided to play for the Spanish national team.

Spain's victory didn't only give them their first three points of the competition and virtually guaranteed Iran's elimination, but it also ended an impressive streak by Iran: four years without losing a non-friendly match.

Answer: Christian

Prior to this match, Denmark had beaten Peru while Australia lost against France. Both teams were motivated to make the most out of this game, although they ended up taking one point each from their draw. Denmark opened the match with a great volley caught in the air by Christian Eriksen. His goal was the third-fastest World Cup goal for Denmark, preceded by goals by Jorgensen in 92 seconds and Moller in 124 seconds, both in 1998.

Widely regarded, as one of the best Danish strikers, Eriksen played back then for Tottenham Hotspur, where he scored more than 60 goals. In 2021, Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest during a UEFA Euro match. The shocking scene caused worry in the stadium and around the world. Eriksen miraculously recovered and was able to play again months later.

Answer: 3

When the referee consulted the VAR replays, it became clear that a Danish player had clearly touched the ball with his hand and a penalty had to be awarded. Jedinak, the team's captain, calmly took the penalty and scored the second goal of the match.

Mile Jedinak's career started in Sydney in 2001 and ended with Aston Villa in 2019, having played for clubs in Australia, Croatia, Turkey, and England. Jedinak also represented Australia in three different World Cups and scored three goals during these tournaments, all of them via penalty kick. Jedinak became the seventh player to ever score three or more penalty kicks in World Cup history, joining other football legends like Argentina's Gabriel Batistuta, Bulgaria's Hristo Stoichkov, and Portugal's Eusebio.

Answer: Youngest French player to score in a World Cup

Kylian Mbappe was born in Paris and started his career with Monaco. He distinguished himself from other players for his amazing speed and dribbling skills. He was signed by Paris Saint Germain in 2017, a club where he has won multiple league and cup titles. Mbappe is considered to be one of the fastest football players in the world.

France and Peru gave an intense first half, with both teams creating several goal-scoring opportunities. In the 34th minute, Peru's defense was trying to play the ball in a dangerous area, which proved to be a mistake. Paul Pogba recovered the ball and then passed it to Giroud. The ball bounced off a Peruvian and landed at Mbappe's feet. All that was left was to push it into the net, scoring his first World Cup goal and becoming the youngest French player to ever score in the competition at 19 years old. The prior record was held by David Trezeguet, who scored against Saudi Arabia in 1998 when he was 20.

France would later go on to win the tournament.

Answer: Willy Caballero

Led by star Lionel Messi, Argentina was again searching for a World Cup title after losing the 2014 final to Germany. Croatia also had ambitious goals and was playing with one of their best squads in years. The first half was uneventful, but the second half proved to be an exciting yet shocking 45 minutes. Eight minutes after the second half kicked off, Willy Caballero received a normal pass from a defender, as goalkeepers frequently do throughout matches. Caballero tried to return the ball but kicked it too softly, gifting Rebic a perfect opportunity to volley the ball into the net.

Willy Caballero started his career in Argentine club Boca Juniors. He played for a couple of Spanish teams before transferring to Manchester City and then Chelsea. Caballero was selected to play after goalkeeper Sergio Romero got injured, but his disastrous performance in this match cost him the rest of the tournament and he was replaced with Franco Armani.

In Spanish, "caballero" can either mean "gentleman" or "knight", though the two terms are arguably related to each other.

Answer: Real Madrid

Caballero's mistake seemed to demotivate Argentina. The few opportunities that the blue and white team had were wasted by their forwards, including Messi. In the 80th minute, Luka Modric took a shot from outside the box, apparently surprising Caballero.

The great goal confirmed Croatia's victory and was also the first time that Argentina received a goal during a World Cup from a Real Madrid player. Modric would receive the Golden Ball at the end of the tournament, recognizing him as the best player.

Answer: Ivan Rakitic

Argentina had visibly given up but the Croatians had not. In the 90th minute, already in aggregate time, Rakitic dribbled the ball to the Argentine side of the field. He took a shot that was deflected by Caballero, albeit poorly because the ball landed in Kovacic's legs. He then gave the ball back to Rakitic, who calmly took his time to shoot and score Croatia's third goal. This was Argentina's largest loss (most goals received) in a World Cup since their 6-1 loss against Czechoslovakia in 1958.

Ivan Rakitic has Croat parents but was born and raised in Switzerland, where he also started his football career. He played with the Swiss youth teams but ultimately decided to represent Croatia in major international competitions. His club career has mostly been spent in the Spanish clubs of Sevilla and Barcelona. Rakitic made a surprising announcement in September 2020, retiring from international play after going through several injuries.