It was difficult to identify the primary emotion Cristiano Ronaldo felt when he finally ended his goalscoring drought at major tournaments.

It had been some time since he scored a penalty against Ghana in Portugal’s opening match at Qatar 2022, with 10 goalless games at World Cups and a Euros since then. For context, his old pal Lionel Messi had scored 11 World Cup goals since Ronaldo’s last one.

The roar that followed his sixth-minute opener felt like a mixture of relief, delight and an awful lot of pent-up frustration. With Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland all scoring at least twice in each of their appearances, Ronaldo was being left behind.

Not anymore.

His two goals were brilliantly taken; the first involved excellent movement at the near post to beat a dozing Abdulla Abdullaev to Joao Cancelo’s low cross, while the second saw him peel off two defenders through on goal before finding the far corner with a smart low finish.

The World Cup’s oldest ever outfield player became the first man to score at six World Cups, an exceptional feat of endurance, desire, longevity and brilliance.

He was facing an overawed and inexperienced Uzbekistan defence, which must be taken into account, but given how it appears Ronaldo will play pretty much every minute for Portugal whatever the circumstances, it was an important breakthrough for their tournament hopes, as well as being a moment of World Cup history.

Croatia subs: I Pandur, D Kotarski, J Gvardiol, D Caleta-Car, K Jakic, L Vuskovic, M Erlic, N Moro, M Pasalic, T Fruk, L Sucic, A Kramaric, I Matanovic, M Pasalic, P Musa.

Ghana subs: L A Zigi, J Anang, A Seidu, A Mumin, B Rahman, J Opoku, K P Oppong, C Yirenkyi, A Boakye, A Fatawu, B Thomas-Asante, C B Baah, I Williams, E Nuamah, P Adu.

The Anaheim Ducks traded John Carlson’s rights to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for pick No. 192 in the 2026 NHL Draft and defense prospect Kyle Masters.

There is no pre-arranged deal in place for Carolina to sign Carlson. The Hurricanes just bought an early chance to speak with the pending UFA before the market opens Wednesday.

After spending his entire career with the Washington Capitals, the 17-year veteran finished last season with the Anaheim Ducks following a trade at last season’s deadline. Carlson had four goals — three of them in an April 9 win against San Jose for his first career hat trick — and 10 assists in 14 regular-season games with the Ducks before adding six assists in 12 playoff games as Anaheim reached the second round.

The all-time leading scorer by a defenseman in Capitals history, Carlson had a combined 14 goals and 46 assists with Washington and Anaheim last season. His 60 points put him tied for 11th among defensemen across the league. One of those he was tied with, Jakob Chychrun, effectively allowed for the Capitals to move on without Carlson.

A native of Natick, Mass., Carlson communicated a desire to return to a team in the Eastern Conference and closer to his original home base after growing his family in the suburbs outside Washington, D.C. after finishing his eight-year, $64 million deal. Carlson is looking for a two-year deal in the $9 million range, according to league sources granted anonymity to speak about talks that aren’t public.

The Ducks, who were interested in re-signing him, surrendered their 2026 first-round selection to get the defenseman in a surprising addition to reward a team bound to end the franchise’s seven-year playoff drought.

“I’ve had good discussions with Pat (Verbeek),” Carlson’s agent, Rick Curran, previously told The Athletic as he referenced Anaheim’s general manager. “I told him how much John enjoyed his time in Anaheim. But his preference is to return and play in the East, closer to family and the familiarity with it. Pat was naturally disappointed but completely understood.”

At one point, Carlson was open to re-signing with the Ducks, but he was noncommittal about his future at the team’s exit interviews day following their playoff loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

“I certainly loved it here,” Carlson said. “There’s a lot of moving parts to that to properly answer the question. But yeah, I’ve loved my time. It’s a special place here for sure with some extraordinary talent and a really bright future. That certainly is attractive to anyone, not just myself.”

Carlson was a first-round pick of the Capitals in 2008 and won a Stanley Cup with them in 2018 while becoming the franchise leader in goals (166), assists (605) and points (771) for a defenseman. He is second to Alex Ovechkin in all-time games played for Washington.