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Fernando Muslera - 6.5

The 32-year-old passed Uruguay's first test by saving Ronaldo's shot in the sixth minute. He was in charge of the aerial bombardment, taking care of business from crosses.

Martin Caceres - 7.5

A pass that opened up space for Cavani got the attacking move going which led to the opening goal. Brilliantly hassled Raphael Guerreiro, forcing him to turnover possession on numerous occasions.

Did an exceptional job at jockeying Ronaldo when he threatened to shoot countless times on the edge of the area, forcing him inside and backwards.

He shut out Portugal's threat through the centre with the help of his holding midfielders Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Torreira. While defending a short corner, Pepe was left free to head home the equaliser on 53 minutes.

Diego Laxalt - 6.5

Adequate defending although he struggled to keep the ball under his control. Most of his attacking work was done by Bentancur and Luis Suarez who occupied the left channels.

Lucas Toerriera - 7

His set-piece delivery needed some work as Uruguay's threat from set-plays has been deadly so far this tournament. Great defending on the edge of the area.

Matias Vecino - 7

Confident passing from Inter Milan midfielder who was composed while he shielded the advances of  Cristiano Ronaldo.

Nahitan Nandez - 7.5

Superb one-two play with Martin Caceres down the right hand side, coupled with great defensive work. Didn't quite get into the goal scoring spaces in the final third but was always involved in the build up.

Rodrigo Bentancur - 7

Defended extremely well as a compact unit with Laxalt and Vecino against the impending threat from Bernardo Silva and Ricardo Pereira.

Luis Suarez - 7.5

A supreme cross onto the head of Cavani at the back post sent Uruguay in front, once again with their devastating combination.

Edinson Cavani - 8

A brilliant cross-field ball to Suarez was rewarded with a great cross and an emphatic header that put Uruguay a goal up inside ten minutes. Produced a finishing masterclass for the second goal with a first-time shot which curled into the bottom right corner to put La Celste back on top.

Cavani's header beat him at the back post in the seventh minute. Got down low to deny Suarez from a free-kick which curled low around the wall. His positioning for Cavani's goal could have been a bit better but it was an exceptional hit.

Raphael Guerreiro - 5

Completely oblivious to the back post run of Uruguay's biggest threat, Cavani, in the penalty area. A brilliant cross found the head of Pepe who headed in the equaliser and became the first player to score against Uruguay in the tournament.

Jockeyed Suarez well when he took him on one-on-one. Had a few nervy moments handling Cavani in the air.

Attempted to quash the hold-up play threat from Suarez and Cavani by getting into their backs early as they receive the ball. A brilliant header brought the scores level from a short corner eight minutes into the second half. A header from Muslera's goal kick put Portugal in trouble and Cavani finished beautifully to put Uruguay back ahead.

Ricardo Pereira - 4.5

Poor deliveries on the right couldn't break the match open for Portugal while he couldn't stop Suarez from cutting in and crossing to Cavani to open the scoring. A much better start to the second half with some better deliveries.

Lost the ball in the middle of the pitch due to Uruguay's immense pressure which almost led to Suarez adding a second inside 15 minutes.

William Carvalho - 6

Caught out of position as Caceras passed to Cavani, who had acres of space to move in the centre-right channel in a passage of play which led to the opening goal. His passing was quality but mostly sideways.

Began the match with composure, directing attacking play for Portugal on the left. However, he didn't have the strength or power to beat Caceres on the ball.

Bernardo Silva - 5.5

Always a threat but Uruguay's compact defending prevented him from finding any space to whip in crosses or supply passes to his forwards. Couldn't find the an empty net when Muslera went missing after chasing a loose ball.

Goncalo Guedes - 3.5

Uruguay's crowded defending around the box made his job much harder He struggled to find touches on the ball and create any meaningful goalscoring chances.

Cristiano Ronaldo - 5.5

An electric start from the man in form as the match was played at 100 miles an hour. However, Uruguay's well structured defence made it almost impossible for him to steal the show.

Player Ratings: Uruguay 2-1 Portugal

DF Gabriel Mercado, 4 -- Struggled against the counter in the first half, and along with his defence and midfield colleagues, crumbled as the second wore on.

DF Nicolas Otamendi, 4 -- Otamendi was on course for a 5 here, for merely being the least bad of Argentina's defenders, until his stupid booking and time-wasting argument in stoppage time when his side needed all the seconds they had to try and grab an equaliser.

DF Marcos Rojo, 4 -- Good against Nigeria, but much less impressive here -- in the first half France had three dangerous counter-attacks, and two of them were targeted squarely at Rojo, who failed to respond. Gave away the penalty and was substituted at half-time.

DF Nicolas Tagliafico, 5 -- As in other matches in this tournament, it's difficult to say Tagliafico did an awful lot wrong (in comparison to his teammates), but also hard to pick out what he did right, beyond one or two timely interventions.

MF Enzo Perez, 5 -- Part of a midfield that was being overrun even before he was taken off to make way for Aguero. The system left him seeming confused as to what he should be doing, and he never found the passing range he'd shown against Croatia (in the first half) and Nigeria.

MF Javier Mascherano, 4 -- Not everyone agreed that he had a poor game against Nigeria; surely not everyone will agree now, either. And it's not entirely Mascherano's fault -- he was left alone in midfield against a rapid counter-attacking side in a display which brought back memories of the Diego Maradona-managed exit from the 2010 World Cup against Germany. Confirmed his international retirement after the match. Had he done so six months or a year ago, perhaps Argentina could have built something more solid here.

MF Ever Banega, 6 -- Again, not entirely his fault, given that the formation demanded he play higher up the pitch than in his game-running display against Nigeria, and as a result Banega didn't find his passing range until Sergio Aguero's introduction allowed him to drop deeper -- and then only tentatively.

FW Cristian Pavon, 6 -- A winger without a centre-forward to cross to can only do so much. And Pavon did what, given his role and abilities, he had presumably been put in the team to do. For that reason he gets the "starting" mark of 6.

FW Angel Di Maria, 7 -- A beautiful strike for Argentina's equaliser and a bright start to the second half were all that was needed for Di Maria to lay claim to being Argentina's best player. And given his displays in recent years, when Di Maria is Argentina's best player, it's clear something has gone wrong.

FW Lionel Messi, 6 -- Messi flourished playing just to the right of a centre-forward against Nigeria... so here Sampaoli named him as a false 9. With no central attacking partner, Messi was once again expected to be both creator and finisher, but he can't pass the ball to himself. His beautiful assist for Aguero's late goal to give Argentina hope was a frustrating glance of what might have been had the system been different from the start.

GK Franco Armani, 5 -- Not much he could do about the penalty, but he looked flat-footed for Benjamin Pavard's goal, and allowed Kylian Mbappe's first to squirm under his body when he really should have done better.

France 4-3 Argentina: How the players fared

Poor Jorge Sampaoli. It looks to all the world that Argentina are through to the World Cup knock-outs despite their forlorn coach, who is now taking orders from his own players.

“This team is more Messi’s than mine,” said Sampaoli back in March. He was talking about Messi’s ability to get the best out of his team-mates, but now, three games into a chaotic campaign in Russia, we may as well think about Argentina’s No.10 as their player-coach.

There is some dispute as to whether Messi actually made the decision to bring on Sergio Aguero during Tuesday’s match with Nigeria; did he tell Sampaoli it was happening, did Sampaoli ask Messi what to do, or did the coach merely make the decision himself and relay it to the captain, as has since been claimed in the Argentine press?

It almost doesn’t matter. The public has made its mind up and in this post-truth age, the damage has been done for Sampaoli.

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His touchline outfit against Croatia did him no favours in that sense and in all honesty the video footage from Tuesday certainly looks incriminating - he appeared completely lost, and it’s easy to see why so many people believe he’s asking Messi for instructions.

Even more so when his post-match comments are taken into account. “When Leo came and hugged me, I felt very proud and happy,” Sampaoli said, as he sat a matter of yards from Messi.

“He knows I am very passionate, passionate every single day. I have had the possibility to travel with him, and share many moments with him before the World Cup.

"He knows me, and he knows me well. He knows we have this common dream of coming to Russia, and doing something important for Argentina.”

Having already said Argentina’s defeat against Croatia was everybody else’s problem, not Messi’s, it’s quickly got to the stage that Sampaoli is talking about his star man with more reverence than Real Madrid coaches are forced to talk about Cristiano Ronaldo.

And Messi is now clearly giving the team-talks, too. His coaches at previous World Cups have said that he has always been more of a leader by example, with Javier Mascherano providing the more vocal duties, but on Tuesday night in Saint Petersburg it was Messi down in the tunnel, just before the second half started, barking out orders. Come full-time it was Messi leading the celebrations.

Messi, as man of the match, sat at the same table as Sampaoli to conduct the post-match press conference and it looked like the Barcelona man was merely flanked by his assistant.

And, again, even with that now effectively the case, it almost doesn’t matter.

Victory over Nigeria seems to have unified the camp in a way that was unimaginable amid the chaos following the Croatia game. From Aguero’s clear display of disgust aimed at Sampaoli in the post-match mixed zone, to the rumoured punch-up between Mascherano and Cristian Pavon, to the fact that the players clearly had a say in the starting line-up for their final group game, Argentina’s campaign was threatening to end in shambles.

It still might, given many of their on-pitch problems were still evident against Nigeria, but off the pitch things seem to have changed for the better in the past 48 hours.

On the bus back from the stadium to the team hotel on Tuesday night, the players raucously sang the same songs that their fans have been singing all over Russia, with Lucas Biglia on drums and Aguero, his discontent seemingly behind him, involved just as much as anybody else.

Mascherano, his unexplained black-eye having now disappeared, later posted a picture of his lakeside view at the team’s training base on Instagram, highlighting that he was in ‘peace’.

And that does genuinely seem to be the mood inside the camp right now. It is a complete reversal from this time last week, when a group of players had called for Sampaoli to be dispatched before they had even had time to sleep on the 3-0 humbling in Nizhny Novgorod.

They effectively got their wish; Sampaoli is still there in body, but he has lost almost all of his power. The result is a happier group, with Messi and Mascherano, emboldened by Tuesday’s victory, now calling the shots.

How far this will take them remains to be seen. They will play France next, a team who themselves have struggled to get going on the pitch, and if Messi picks the right team and then stars in it, a quarter-final appearance is not beyond Argentina.

But Tuesday’s win may merely have provided them with a stay of execution, and you get the feeling that if it does go wrong for them this summer, it will be every bit as shambolic as the Croatia defeat and the hours immediately afterwards.

At least this remarkable situation does at least give Argentina a chance to keep fighting - alongside each other - this summer, even if Sampaoli is as much of a spectator as the rest of us.

Argentina find themselves in a far from enviable position, with their coach effectively powerless, but one which is a huge improvement upon last week.

Lionel Messi to coach Argentina against France?

The reigning champions looked to dominate the opening proceedings without really creating anything concrete.

It was Sweden who took the lead against the run of play as Ola Toivonen lifted the ball of Manuel Neuer after half an hour.

Mario Gomez was introduced at half time and immediately made an impact as he set up Marco Reus for the equaliser.

Germany looked like they were nearing a World Cup exit until Toni Kroos whipped in a 95th-minute free-kick to give them a last-gasp win.

Here are our player ratings from Germany 2-1 Sweden.

Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer

Made two fantastic saves to bookend a disappointing first half for the Germans. Arguably could have done better for Sweden's goal. 7

Right-back: Joshua Kimmich

A constant threat down the right as he capitalised on the lack of width from Sweden, but defensively open. 7

Centre-back: Jerome Boateng

A shocking day all round. Fortunate not to concede a penalty when bringing down Marcus Berg in the opening exchanges. Constantly strayed from position and allowed Sweden to get in too easily. Sent off with 10 minutes to go. 4

Centre-back: Antonio Rudiger

Made a couple of crucial headed clearances, but struggled to contain the Sweden attackers. 6

Left-back: Jonas Hector

Tasked with providing width on the left, Hector did a good job of stretching play. 6

Midfield: Sebastian Rudy

Operated efficiently from deep before being taken off. Had a couple of chances to let fly with a shot but never quite capitalised. 6

Midfield: Toni Kroos

Dictated play from deep, being allowed space to move the ball around. Left the defence overly-exposed leading to trouble at the back. Pulled it out the bag with a wicked free-kick in the 95th minute. 7

Right wing: Marco Reus

An effective presence as he switched flanks and rotated with the other Germany attackers to cause constant problems. Did well to get Germany's equaliser. 7

Attacking midfield: Thomas Muller

Always an incredibly wily player - using his experience and anticipation to make sure he's in the right place at the right time. 5

Left wing: Julian Draxler

Had an opportunity to take the lead in the opening minutes but couldn't convert from close range. 6

Striker: Timo Werner

Used his pace to cause problems as he floated out of his number nine position. Struggled to make an impact against a largely resolute Sweden defence. 5

Germany defied a resilient Sweden defence to take a smash and grab victory in Sochi.

Player Ratings: Germany 2-1 Sweden

A rocket from Son Heung-min raised hopes of a late South Korean comeback but it was not to be. They were second best to Mexico all over the pitch for most of the game.

Goalkeeper: Cho Hyun-Woo

Was his team's top performer despite seeing two goals hit he back of his net. Made good saves to deny Andres Guardado and Hirving Lozano. 7

Right-back: Lee Yong

Put in some good challenges, especially around his own box, but was overrun in the end. 6

Centre-back: Jang Hyun-Soo

Blamed for injuring a teammate in his side's opening game against Sweden, he gave away the penalty for Carlos Vela to score. A poor tournament so far. 3

Centre-back: Kim Young-Gwon

Did what he could to hold back his opponents, and made some big interventions inside his own half. Couldn't hold the line by himself. 7

Right-back: Kim Min-Woo

A stable performance down the right from South Korea's other full-back, Kim also found Mexico to be too much as they surged down the flanks. Taken off late in the game. 6

Midfield: Ju Se-Jong

Taken off early in the second half to make way for Lee Seung-woo. South Korea looked better with his replacement on the field as they began to play with a more positive outlook. 4

Midfield: Ki Sung-yueng

Found himself up against a tenacious opponent in Hector Herrera but was able to give South Korean some security on the ball, if not quite victory in the control over the midfield battle. 6

Right wing: Moon Seon-Min

Simply second best down his side of the pitch against Mexico's pairing of Hirving Lozano and Jesus Gallardo. Taken off in the second half after a tough shift on the right. 5

Attacking midfield: Lee Jae-Sung

Played all over the pitch in a rugged performance that saw him moved around to fight fires caused by South Korea's problematic match ups in the individual battles against Mexico. 7

Left wing: Hwang Hee-Chan

A similar outing to Lee, Hwang was one of South Korea's better performers against a very dangerous opponent. Unlike some of his countrymen he at least looked worthy of being on the pitch alongside some of the bigger names on either team. 6

Striker: Son Heung-Min

Clearly his side's best chance of scoring but the Spurs forward had too much to do and seemed determined to take on the burden himself, rather than trust in those around him. Understandable but he was still ineffective - until that cracker of a goal in injury time of course! 5

Goalkeeper: Guillermo Ochoa

Another solid performance from the shot-stopper who denied Germany. Had less to do that in that game but still alert to dangers as they cropped up. Beaten only by a stunner from Son. 7

Right-back: Edson Alvarez

The weak spot in the Mexican back line, he was fortunate to have Miguel Layun ahaed of him working hard to help keep his side of the pitch covered and under control. 4

Centre-back: Carlos Salcedo

Started well but looked shaky at times in the second half and was sloppy on the ball. Made up for it with his commitment to throwing his body in the way of danger, although better sides are likely to take advantage of any further lapses from the defender. 5

Centre-back: Hector Moreno

Had an iffy second half, like his partner at the back, as South Korea sort to force the Mexican lock after failing to pick it throughout the opening 60 minutes, but was the more composed centre-back. 6

Left-back: Jesus Gallardo

One of the players who set the tone for the team from back to front. Helped to unleash his team's forwards and track back South Korea's goal threats down his flank. 7

Midfield: Hector Herrera

Insatiable in midfield. So much energy and aggression but also composure when in control of the ball. The engine room of this side. 8

Midfield: Andres Guardado

Set the tempo in possession alongside his more ferocious teammate and had a chance to get on the scoresheet himself, only for his shot to be palmed away. Taken off for the experienced (and more defensive) Rafael Marquez in the second half. 7

Right wing: Miguel Layun

Showed his versatility out wide on the right after popping up in a box-to-box role against Germany following a season of club football where he has played as a full-back, the Mexican was industrious in his work helping to cover the flank and chase the ball while his more attacking teammates sought to get behind the South Korean defence. 7

Attacking midfield: Carlos Vela

Freed from the man marking job he was given against Germany to put the pressure on Toni Kroos, the ex-Arsenal man was arguably Mexico's best player in this victory, and deserved his goal from the penalty spot. One of many players too lithe, quick and hard-working for South Korea to cope with. 8

Left wing: Hirving Lozano

Bright out on the left covering plenty of ground he played his part in teeing up Javier Hernandez to score, the striker who slipped him in to find the net against Germany. The case for him to win a move to one of Europe's top clubs grows by the game. 8

Striker: Javier Hernandez

An historic day for the West Ham forward who pocketed his 50th international goal for Mexico to kill the game off once and for all. 7

Goals from former Arsenal forward Carlos Vela and West Ham's Javier Hernandez were enough for the side that shocked the reigning world champions in their opening encounter of the World Cup 2018.

Player Ratings: South Korea 1-2 Mexico

The game got off to a frantic start when Hazard netted from the penalty spot inside six minutes, with Lukaku getting his first just ten minutes later.

Thibaut Courtois - GK

Couldn't really do much about Tunisia's opening goal and was pretty solid in the first half .

In the second half he had to deal with a bright start from the Tunisians. but they didn't really trouble him too much and he couldn't do much about the consolation goal at the end. 5

Toby Alderweireld - RCB

Out of the three centre-backs he was the most solid and he also played in a wonderful ball to Hazard for him to get his second. A solid display from the Spurs man. 7

Dedryck Boyata - CB

Gave the ball away a lot and then was too deep for the free-kick that allowed Tunisia to be offside. Lost his position on several occasions. If England want to do well against them then targeting the Celtic man might be the idea. 4

Jan Vertonghen - LCB

Along with Boyata, in the wrong place for the Tunisia goal as he didn't keep his line. Took a couple of kicks and fouled quite a bit.

Made an excellent challenge early in the second half to deny Khaoui from getting in. A couple of wasted passes. 5

Thomas Meunier - RWB

Started the game brightly getting down the right flank. Carried that on throughout the game and played a lovely little ball to Lukaku for his second goal.

Really caused a lot of problems down the right and defensively solid as well. 8

Yannick Carrasco - LWB

Really good down the left and linking the midfield with the attack, providing an excellent outlet which gave Hazard more space to cut in as well. A decent display and wasn't tested too much going the other way. 7

Didn't really do anything exciting in the middle of the park but still manages to get into the side. Controlled the tempo of the match throughout the game and was pretty solid. 6

Kevin De Bruyne - CM

Still don't like seeing him in the deeper role as he isn't as influential in the match as he can be. Tried to get forward a bit more when the changes started happening and showed he can be more dangerous than he is restricted to be. 6

Dries Mertens - RW

Did excellently for the second goal as he won the ball and slid in Lukaku to neatly finish the move off. Not has electric as he was in the first game, but still gave the left back a torrid time. Moved into the centre forward role when Lukaku went off. 8

Made an excellent start to the game with the early running and winning the penalty before slotting it away himself.

Was scintillating throughout the game. Constantly fouled and kicked but he still got up and made everything tick. Wonderful finish for his second goal as well. 9

Romelu Lukaku - CF

Made some brilliant early runs and his finishing was exceptional, firing into the bottom corner and then clipping the ball over the goalkeeper. Limped off in second half which could be a boost for England. 9

Farouk Ben Mustapha - GK

Couldn't do much about the opening two goals, but maybe went down too early for Lukaku's second. Beaten by Hazard for the fourth goal. 4

Was the shock man to get a goal back for Tunisia when he rose highest from a free-kick to nod home. However, had to come off with an injury in the first half. 5

Syam Ben Youssef - CB

Had a really tough first half as Lukaku ran the centre-backs ragged with his movement. Things got worse for him as he had to be carried off and subbed with an injury at the end of the first half. 4

Yassine Meriah - CB

Really struggled with the early pace of Lukaku getting behind. Had a tough afternoon as the Tunisian defence were run ragged throughout and Belgium could have had even more. 3

Had a shocking start to the match as he gave the ball away a few times and a lot of Belgium attacks came down his side. Had a really bad game with a few of the goals his fault. 2

Ellyes Skhiri - CM

The midfield were really outclassed by Belgium and it was tough for Skhiri to get a handle on the game. Not a great afternoon for him. 4

Ferjani Sassi - LCM

Gave away a couple of early fouls but at least tried to be a bright spark for the Tunisians to get back into the match. 5

Saif-Eddine Khaoui - RCM

Didn't really provide anything going forward for the Tunisians and defensively as well they were just so open and left the defence completely exposed. 3

Tried to make attacks happen down the left but really he had to look after Meunier who was a real threat throughout the encounter and Badri couldn't really do much. 4

Fakhreddine Ben Youssef - RW

Another one that couldn't really provide much for the front men as they struggled to get anything going and they were easily dealt with. 4

Wahbi Khazri - CF

Had an excellent shot with 15 minutes to go in the first half as he tried to be a livewire for Tunisia.

However, completely lost in the second half and didn't really get into the game when his team needed him most. Scored a late consolation goal, but it was too late. 4

Here is how we rated the players:

Tunisia 2-5 Belgium - How the players fared

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With many expecting Germany to dominate their opponents in Moscow, the Central American nation bombarded forward early on and were rewarded after 35 minutes.

And as Lozano cut inside to slam the ball home, Mexico's seismic monitoring service, SIMMSA, detected artificial earthquake recordings most likely caused by celebrating fans in at least two of its sensors across the capital.

Mexico shocked the World Cup holders with a first half goal past Manuel Neuer in Sunday's Group F encounter, and the moment even caused an earthquake in Mexico City.

ruth

Articles written by the author

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