2022 FIFA World Cup Group H

The opening ceremony of the match between Uruguay and Portugal

Matches in Group H of the 2022 FIFA World Cup took place from 24 November to 2 December 2022. The group consisted of Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea. The top two teams, Portugal and South Korea, advanced to the round of 16. Uruguay exited the tournament after failing to progress the group stage for the first time since 2002, with South Korea's shock 2–1 victory over Portugal contributing to the elimination.

Notes

In the round of 16:

• The winners of Group H, Portugal, advanced to play the runners-up of Group G, Switzerland.
• The runners-up of Group H, South Korea, advanced to play the winners of Group G, Brazil.

All times listed are local, AST (UTC+3).

The teams had previously met eight times, including twice in the World Cup, both matches won by Uruguay: a 1–0 group stage victory in 1990 and a 2–1 round of 16 success in 2010.

The match ended in a goalless draw, with the best chances coming when Diego Godín and Federico Valverde both hit the post for Uruguay.

The teams had met once before, being Portugal's 2–1 group stage victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

After a goalless first half, Portugal were awarded a penalty in the 65th minute, when Mohammed Salisu fouled Cristiano Ronaldo in the penalty area. Ronaldo took the penalty and scored, shooting high to the left of the goalkeeper, to put Portugal into the lead. André Ayew equalised for Ghana in the 73rd minute with a close range finish after a low cross from Mohammed Kudus on the left. Portugal swiftly responded with two quick goals from World Cup debutants, the first coming from João Félix in the 78th minute with a clipped finish from the right over the advancing goalkeeper, and the second from substitute Rafael Leão two minutes later with a low finish into the right corner of the goal after a pass from Bruno Fernandes. In the 89th minute, Ghanaian substitute Osman Bukari scored with a header from six yards out to reduce the deficit. Then, in stoppage time, Ghana nearly equalized when Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa put the ball on the ground, preparing to kick it upfield, and Ghana's Iñaki Williams came from behind Costa to take the ball but slipped as he was about to shoot, with the ball subsequently cleared from danger by Portugal.

With his goal, Ronaldo became the first male player to score at five different FIFA World Cup tournaments. At the age of 37 years and 292 days, he also became the second-oldest player to score at a World Cup, behind only Roger Milla for Cameroon in 1994 (aged 42 years and 39 days).

The teams had faced each other eight times, most recently in 2014, 4–0 friendly win by Ghana.

In the first half, Ghana scored two goals against the run of play within a ten-minute span to take a 2–0 lead, coming from Mohammed Salisu and Mohammed Kudus. South Korea would then reply in the second half with two goals of their own, both headers scored within three minutes of each other by Cho Gue-sung, to level the game at 2–2. Kudus scored the decisive goal and his second of the match in the 68th minute, coming after Iñaki Williams had mistimed his initial shot, to put Ghana back in front. Ghanaian goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi made multiple crucial saves and Salisu cleared an effort off the line late on to secure them a 3–2 victory.

Cho Gue-sung and Kudus each became the first players to score multiple goals in a single World Cup match for their respective countries.

When referee Anthony Taylor ended the game instead of allowing a South Korean player to kick off a corner, South Korea's head coach Paulo Bento ran onto the field and screamed at the referee, for which he was shown a red card, making it the first time in World Cup history that a coach was sent off after the conclusion of the match. Counting players' Leandro Cufré's and Josip Šimunić's red cards (both in 2006), this was the third time a sending off occurred after the match had ended.

The teams had met three times prior, including Uruguay's 2–1 round of 16 victory at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Bruno Fernandes put Portugal into the lead during the second half when his cross from the left deceived Uruguay keeper Sergio Rochet, after Cristiano Ronaldo had tried to glance the ball past him with his head. Ronaldo was initially ruled as the goalscorer before FIFA determined that he hadn't connected with the ball, and instead awarded the goal to Fernandes. Fernandes scored a second in the third minute of stoppage time, a penalty awarded by the VAR for handball by José Giménez, which he rolled into the left side of the net. With this victory, Portugal secured a place in the knockout stage.

The teams had one prior meeting, which came in the 2010 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals; Uruguay won 4–2 on penalties following a 1–1 draw after extra time.

In the first half, Ghana were awarded a penalty after Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet was adjudged to have fouled Mohammed Kudus inside the area; however, Rochet then saved the subsequent spot kick taken by Ghana captain André Ayew. Shortly after this, midfielder Giorgian de Arrascaeta scored Uruguay's first two goals of the tournament within a span of six minutes to earn his side a 2–0 half-time lead, which saw them rise to second place in the live group standings. However, Uruguay would then be pushed down to third in the table on goals scored following South Korea's winner against Portugal late into the second half of the group's other ongoing game. Uruguay were unable to find the third goal they now required to advance, with Ghana keeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi making saves late on to deny both Edinson Cavani and Maxi Gómez, and thus failed to progress past the first round for the first time since 2002. Defeat also saw Ghana eliminated, finishing bottom of the group with only three points.

Referee Daniel Siebert and his assistants were angrily confronted by Uruguayan players following the final whistle, after both Siebert and the VAR had disagreed with Uruguay's penalty appeals in the second half: first for a coming together between Darwin Núñez and Ghana's Alidu Seidu, and then in stoppage time after Cavani went down in the area. In January 2023, FIFA would go on to punish several Uruguayan players for their actions in the aftermath of the contest, deeming their behaviour "discriminatory", "offensive", and a "violation of the principles of fair play"; substitute keeper Fernando Muslera and defender José Giménez both received four-match bans, while Cavani and captain Diego Godín each served a one-game suspension. All four players were also required to pay fines along with the nation's football association, and carry out a form of football community service.

With De Arrascaeta's goals, Uruguay became the last team of all 32 participants to score at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Prior to this match, the teams had met once before, being South Korea's 1–0 group stage victory in the 2002 FIFA World Cup (which they co-hosted with Japan).

A rotated Portugal side took the lead in the opening five minutes, when Ricardo Horta scored on his World Cup debut with a first-time shot. South Korea would equalize in the 27th minute, when Portugal failed to clear a corner which hit the back of Cristiano Ronaldo, landing at the feet of Kim Young-gwon who scored from close range. In a second half where both sides saw opportunities, South Korea would find the winner in stoppage time, after Son Heung-min recovered the ball off a counter from a Portugal corner and slipped it to Hwang Hee-chan, who finished his shot into the bottom corner of the net.

This late victory saw South Korea leapfrog Uruguay in the group standings on goals scored to join Portugal in the knockout stage, progressing to the second round for the first time since 2010.

Fair play points would have been used as tiebreakers if the overall and head-to-head records of teams were tied. These were calculated based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches as follows:

• first yellow card: −1 point;
• indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
• direct red card: −4 points;
• yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;

Only one of the above deductions was applied to a player in a single match.

• Ghana at the FIFA World Cup – International football delegation

• Portugal at the FIFA World Cup – International football delegation

• South Korea at the FIFA World Cup – International football delegation

• Uruguay at the FIFA World Cup – International football delegation

• Official website