It was a mixed bag for the superstars on day 7 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as Cristiano Ronaldo was left frustrated with a 1-1 draw for Portugal vs DR Congo while Harry Kane played a starring role in England's impressive 4-2 win over Croatia.
Antoine Semenyo and Ghana then followed this up with a late, late 1-0 victory over Panama as Caleb Yirenkyi scored a winner in the 95th minute to steal all three points at the death.
Colombia and Uzbekistan played out an end-to-end game, with the South Americans triumphing 3-1, but the contest was closer than the scoreline suggested.
ESPN's By The Numbers brings you best stats from the World Cup action on June 17:
Portugal 1 - 1 Congo DR
0
Cristiano Ronaldo played out his 6th World Cup game with 0 shots on target. This was his 23rd career World Cup game, tied fourth most in competition history). It's also the 2nd time he recorded 0 shots on target in a World Cup match in which he played 90 minutes.
0
Ronaldo has now gone 10 consecutive major tournament games without scoring for Portugal (FIFA World Cup and Euros). He's taken 33 shots, with 11 going on target.
1
Yoane Wissa's equaliser was Congo DR's first World Cup goal; and it came in their 4th World Cup game. Also at 1: this was the first time Congo DR avoided defeat at a World Cup game.
1
Bruno Fernandes created 1 chance in Wednesday's game. It was in the 92nd minute. Also 1: Bernardo Silva had more defensive interventions (1) than shots (0)
3
João Neves is the third youngest Portuguese scorer at the World Cup (21 years, 263 days), behind Cristiano Ronaldo in 2006 (21y-132d) and Gonçalo Ramos in 2022 (21 y-169d)
3
Portugal had 3 wins in the previous 9 FIFA World Cup games when tied at the half (2-4-3, W-D-L). In comparison, Portugal is unbeaten all-time when taking a lead at HT in a World Cup (11-3-0)
4
Portugal have now failed to win 4 of its last 5 World Cup openers (D 2010, L 2014, D 2018, W 2022, D 2026)
5
Cristiano Ronaldo is going through a 5-game scoring drought in World Cups since last scoring vs Ghana in 2022 Group stage; tied for his longest in the competition (2006-10)
6
Ronaldo has now joined Lionel Messi as the only men to play in 6 different World Cups.
16
The only other time Ronaldo had 16 first-half touches in a World Cup start was 2014, when Germany crushed Portugal 4-0.
25
Ronaldo finished with only 25 touches of the ball today, the second fewest of his career in a World Cup start. The only WC start he had fewer touches was the infamous "Battle of Nuremberg", which Portugal won 1-0 vs Netherlands in the 2006 Rd of 16 and saw a record 4 red cards brandished.
41y 123d
RECORD ALERT: Cristiano Ronaldo is the oldest outfield player to start a World Cup game (41 years, 123 days).
75% and 7/8
Portugal's possession against Congo DR (75%) is the highest by a team who had fewer shots than their opponent in a World Cup match (since 1966): Portugal had 7 shots, Congo DR had 8.
Interestingly, Portugal's 75% possession was also the highest of any match so far this World Cup.
England 4 - 2 Croatia
1
This is England's first World Cup win against a side ranked inside of FIFA's top 15 in the rankings (Croatia 11th) since 2002 v Argentina (3rd), ending a nine-game winless run (D2 L7) and six-game losing run against such sides at the finals.
1
Croatia have snapped a 6-game unbeaten streak in FIFA World Cup Group Stage matches. This was their first such loss since 2014 vs Mexico (3-1)
1
Marcus Rashford is the first English player to score 2 World Cup goals as a substitute. In fact, this was his fourth substitute goal for England - only Jermain Defoe (7), Harry Kane (5) and Peter Crouch (5) have more
1/5
Jude Bellingham is one of five European players to have scored in each of the last three major tournaments (2022 World Cup, EURO 2024, 2026 World Cup), and youngest of the five to do so (22y 353d).
1:25
Jude Bellingham's goal was 1 minute, 25 seconds after the start of the second half. That is England's fastest goal from start of the 2nd half (47') in their World Cup history
2
Harry Kane is just the second player to score for England at 3 different World Cups (2018, 2022, 2026), joining David Beckham (1998, 2002, 2006)
3
This is the 3rd World Cup match since 2018 in which England has scored at least 4 goals (Tied with France for most in that span).
3
England has now won 3 straight FIFA World Cup opening matches, the most in team history (previous English record was 2 straight wins in 1970 and 1982). NOTE: England did not qualify to 1974 and 1978 WCs
3
Jude Bellingham is only the 3rd man to score in 2 different World Cups before turning 23, joining Brazil's Pelé (1958, 1962) and England's Michael Owen (1998, 2002)
4
Ivan Perisic has assisted a goal across four World Cup editions, with only Lionel Messi also providing an assist in as many World Cup tournaments on record (since 1966).
4-2
This was England's first 4-2 win in a World Cup match since... the 1966 final against West Germany.
5
Harry Kane has now scored the most penalties (excl. shootouts) in FIFA World Cup history (5).
7
Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic finished with 7 saves. The only GK with more saves in a WC game vs England since 1966 are Faryd Mondragón (11 in 1998 Group Stage) and Hans Tilkowski (8 in 1966 Final).
10
Harry Kane has now scored 10 World Cup goals; tying Gary Lineker for most by an English player. He is now 6 behind top-scorers of all time, Lionel Messi and Miroslav Klose.
11
England had 11 shots on target tonight against Croatia, and that's the most they've had in a World Cup match since 1998 against Colombia (13).
24y, 285d
Bukayo Saka is the fourth-youngest player to win 50 England caps (24 years, 285 days), after Wayne Rooney (23 years, 159 days), Michael Owen (23 years, 179 days) and Raheem Sterling (24 years, 180 days).
199
Albeit not influential today, Luka Modric made a mark in the record books. This was his199th career appearance for Croatia; with his next game he will join Cristiano Ronaldo (229), Bader Ahmed Al-Mutawa (202) and Lionel Messi (200) as the only players with 200+ international appearances (according to FIFA).
Ghana 1 - 0 Panama
95
Caleb Yirenkyi scored the latest regulation goal by Ghana in a FIFA World Cup history. (Asamoah Gyan scored in extra time (93′) vs the United States in 2010)
6
Ghana earned their sixth win in FIFA World Cups, tying Nigeria for most by an African team in tournament history
5
Carlos Queiroz took charge of a team in his fifth straight FIFA World Cup as a head coach, tying Bora Milutinovic for the longest run by a coach. Only Carlos Alberto Parreira (6) has more WC appearances as a manager
4
Panama have lost all 4 of their World Cup matches, tied for the second-most WC matches having lost all of them. Only El Salvador (6) have played more games without winning a single point.
1
This was Ghana's first clean sheet at a World Cup since the 2010 Group Stage (1-0 win vs Serbia).
34y 280d
At 34 years and 280 days old, Jordan Ayew became the oldest player to feature for Ghana in FIFA World Cup history, surpassing Denis Odoi's previous record against South Korea in 2022 (34 years and 185 days).
Uzbekistan 0 - 1 Colombia
1 and 1
Luis Díaz became the first Colombian with a goal and an assist in a FIFA World Cup match since James Rodríguez against Japan in 2014. Those are the only two Colombians to do so in the last 60 years.
30 and 53
Luis Díaz has 30 goals this season with club and country (26 for Bayern Munich and 4 for Colombia). This was also his 53rd goal contribution this season for club and country
3 and 9
James Rodríguez joined Carlos Valderrama and Freddy Rincón as the only Colombians to play in 3 FIFA World Cups. Rodríguez made his ninth World Cup appearance for Colombia, level with Juan Cuadrado and David Ospina as the joint third-most capped players for their nation in the tournament, trailing only Carlos Valderrama and Freddy Rincón (10).
10
Colombia became the fifth CONMEBOL team to have at least 10 wins in the history of the FIFA World Cup, after Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile.
30
Luis Díaz's assist for Daniel Muñoz:traveled 26.5 meters / 30 yards, the longest Colombian assist in World Cup play since Juan Cuadrado's vs England in 2018 (36 meters / 40 yards)
4
Daniel Muñoz (30 years, 22 days) became the fourth oldest Colombian to score in a FIFA World Cup. Of the four players 30 year or older to do so, three of them did it since 2018 (Radamel Falcao, Juan Cuadrado).
4
Uzbekistan became the fourth team to score their first ever FIFA World Cup goal in this edition (also Congo DR, Jordan, Curaçao), the most teams to score their first goal in the competition since 2006 (7 teams: Ivory Coast, Czechia, Australia, Togo, Ghana, Ukraine, Angola)
(Information from ESPN's Global Sports Research contributed to this report.)