World Cup highlights: Cape Verde make more history as Spain impress and Egypt finally win

Cape Verde celebrate their second goal during their 2-2 draw with Uruguay at the World Cup.
Cape Verde celebrate their second goal during their 2-2 draw with Uruguay at the World Cup.CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP

From favourites recovering from first-round disappointment to underdogs creating more history, day 11 of the FIFA World Cup had a little bit of everything.

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Flashscore brings you daily coverage of the best moments from the previous day at the World Cup.

Catch up on the day 10 highlights here.

The headlines

It was Groups G and H on Sunday at the World Cup, with Spain recovering from their shocking matchday one stalemate by beating Saudi Arabia 4-0. Mikel Oyarzarbal scored twice while playing provider for Lamine Yamal, who got his first goal in the tournament.

Saudi Arabia, who earned a surprise result in the first round, now sit at the bottom of the section going into the final day of play.

That is because the other game in the group finished level as Uruguay and Cape Verde drew 2-2. Both sides managed to take the lead, with Kevin Lenini putting the Blue Sharks ahead with their maiden World Cup goal. La Celeste did respond with two goals before the break, only to be pegged back by a defensive calamity to once again have to settle for a point.

In Group G, Belgium were also held to an unexpected tie, with the Islamic Republic of Iran managing a 0-0 draw with the third-place finishers from 2018. Despite having 23 shots in the game, the Red Devils could not find a way through.

However, while the Iranians will be happy with the point, they did not make the most of their man advantage in the second half after Nathan Ngoy was shown a red card for a last-man challenge.

In what was a day of firsts, Egypt wrapped things up with their first-ever goal at a World Cup. The Pharaohs battled back from a goal down to defeat New Zealand 3-1 in Vancouver, spearheaded by Mustafa Ziko and Mohamed Salah, who scored and set each other up. 

Player of the day

While Oyarzabal, Salah, and Ziko all deserve mention for their respective roles in giving their countries wins, Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand truly outdid himself.

Playing for Tractor in his home country (yes, such a club exists), the experienced keeper made seven saves in the match. The biggest one came shortly after the break, when he stopped what would have been a sure goal from Maxim De Cuyper to keep the score at 0-0.

In total, Beiranvand - who once played in Belgium for Royal Antwerp - denied De Cuyper four times throughout the match, which helped him earn an 8.9 in Flashscore's new-and-improved ratings system.

Alireza Beiranvand's performance against Belgium
Alireza Beiranvand's performance against BelgiumOpta by StatsPerform (photo by REUTERS/Daniel Cole)

Goal of the day

For the goal of the day, we head to Miami for Cape Verde's opener. Despite the free kick being quite some distance from the goal, Lenini still scored just the second direct free kick in the tournament.

Sure, Uruguay's wall did not do its job at all, with the ball going through a hole between the two players and past Fernando Muslera. But, we should not take anything away from Lenini for having the courage to have a crack.

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Cape Verde's first goal will be a moment the country will never forget, regardless of what happens from here.

What also made this even more special was the fact that a fan was being interviewed back in Cape Verde just as the free kick was being taken. Speaking with a reporter, the fan was saying just how well his side have played thus far, only for the goal to score while he was speaking.

The camera showed the Cape Verdeans celebrating the goal in what was an incredible moment to capture on camera.

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