Robert Lewandowski remains Poland's "number one" penalty taker despite missing his spot-kick against Mexico, head coach Czeslaw Michniewicz has confirmed.

Having drawn a blank in Russia four years ago, the Barcelona forward is still awaiting his first World Cup goal after Guillermo Ochoa denied him from 12 yards in the Eagles' Group C opener on Tuesday.

But Michniewicz confirmed Lewandowski remains Poland's first choice should they be awarded another penalty in their second group game against Saudi Arabia.

"When it comes to the penalties, Robert is still number one," the head coach said. "As a striker, of course, he will make a decision whether he will shoot or pass it on to someone else. He feels ready to score for Poland."

Jan Bednarek believes while Lewandowski will be desperate to break his finals duck, the captain's main focus is on the team's performance in Qatar.

"Robert Lewandowski is our captain, he's a striker, he wants to score as many goals as he can," the on-loan Aston Villa defender said. "But for him, the good of the team is most important. He wants us to win.

"He hides his pride in his pocket, and he really focuses on working as hard as he can. It's not important to him if he scores or not, he wants us to win the match.

"He's got his individual objective, but I am convinced he places the team's success at the top. This is the best striker in the world. I hope he leads us to win. I don't know if he will score or not, but the most important thing is for us to win."

Andre Onana revealed he is always learning from fellow Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic, while he draws inspiration from Germany captain Manuel Neuer.

The former Ajax stopper joined the Nerazzurri on a free transfer ahead of this season, eventually replacing veteran Handanovic between the sticks after watching their opening eight Serie A matches from the bench.

Onana frequently picks up tips from the 38-year-old, but it is Bayern Munich counterpart Neuer who he regards as "the greatest."

"Handanovic is a giant, I take off my hat to him," he told SportWeek. "He always helps and advises me. I'm a modern goalkeeper, I go out, I take a lot of risks and I play with my feet.

"As a child, I dreamed watching the miracles of [Gianluigi] Buffon and [Iker] Casillas, but the greatest is Neuer: he does crazy things, I am inspired by him."

Onana is on international duty with Cameroon at the World Cup, starting the 1-0 loss against Switzerland, and is set to feature in their remaining Group G encounters with Serbia and Brazil.

The 26-year-old revealed that following the defeat by the Swiss, the Indomitable Lions received a surprise visit from one of their all-time greats.

"The defeat against Switzerland is already behind us," he added. "[Samuel] Eto'o came to the locker room to encourage us.

"[Our] heads [are] held high for the next challenges with Serbia and Brazil at the World Cup. The goal is to qualify for the knockout rounds. For us, the dream remains alive, intact and achievable."

Rouzbeh Cheshmi and Ramin Rezaeian both scored in stoppage time to secure Iran a famous 2-0 World Cup win over Wales and keep their hopes of reaching the last 16 alive in stunning fashion.

Wales, who had Wayne Hennessey sent off late on, had seemingly been on course to somehow avoid defeat, but two fine goals right at the end sparked bedlam among the Iran team and fans.

Iran opting to sing their national anthem after abstaining against England contributed to a charged atmosphere that brought an early flurry, including a disallowed Ali Gholizadeh goal.

That let-off and the fact Gholizadeh and Sardar Azmoun struck the post just after the break suggested luck was on Wales' side.

But Hennessey's red card for a wild challenge turned the tide, and Iran picked the Dragons off in ruthless and remarkable fashion.

Hugo Lloris is confident Adrien Rabiot will prove crucial to France's World Cup defence following his impressive display against Australia, while Didier Deschamps wants even more from Ousmane Dembele.

Injuries to Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante opened the door for Rabiot to assume a central role in Qatar, and he did not let Les Bleus down in their 4-1 win over the Socceroos.

The Juventus midfielder grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck before the break, cancelling out Craig Goodwin's earlier strike by scoring the equaliser before assisting the first of Olivier Giroud's two goals.

Rabiot subsequently became the first France player to both score and assist a goal on his World Cup debut since Christophe Dugarry against South Africa in 1998.

Lloris said: "A lot has been said about the absences of Kante and Pogba, who have been vital engines for us for some years now. 

"But you can forget that there are players who can step up and have the maturity and experience to take a leading role – Adrien has that.

"We know his qualities, there is an opportunity for him at this World Cup.

"The opportunity is coming at the right time and he has shown that against Australia.

"He stepped up and scored that goal and gave an assist to Olivier, it shows the impact he can have on the team.

"We know how talented he is, but he also is a very hard worker, he is very technically gifted, a very elegant player. I'm sure he'll help us go as far as possible."

Meanwhile, Deschamps believes Dembele must continue to strive for improvement, despite grabbing an assist in the Australia victory.

The Barcelona forward, whose brilliant cross set up Kylian Mbappe, started France's first two games at the 2018 tournament, but made just two further substitute appearances in Russia.

He was then unused during the victory over Croatia in the final.

But Deschamps insists Dembele has not arrived in Qatar with a point to prove, saying: "I don't think he wants to make up for it or forget it; he was in 2018 squad, and it was successful.

"Four years ago, he was going through a difficult time with major injuries. Now, he is more mature, but he is still full of youthful exuberance. He is in a club that is very demanding, and maybe he is better at that club.

"He is always capable of creating problems for the opponent as he is so quick and skilful, but he needs to rule out any wastefulness and be as effective as he possibly can.

"He was pleased to be in first XI [against Australia], and he put in a good performance."

Lucas Hernandez has successfully undergone surgery after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in France's 4-1 World Cup opening win against Australia on Tuesday.

Hernandez's club Bayern Munich confirmed he had the operation in Innsbruck on Thursday, with his rehabilitation to commence in Munich in the coming days.

The defender was ruled out of the remainder of the World Cup due to the injury that saw him replaced after only 13 minutes.

Bayern did not provide a timeframe on Hernandez's recovery but it is expected he will miss the rest of the 2022-23 season.

Hernandez is the latest injury blow for the world champions, who saw Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante, Karim Benzema and Christopher Nkunku all ruled out before the tournament started.

France head coach Didier Deschamps said after Tuesday's game: "Like the whole group, players and staff, I am extremely sorry for Lucas.

"We are losing an important element. Lucas is a warrior and I have no doubt that he will do everything possible to return to the game.

"I know him well. Courage, he will have it, that's for sure. On behalf of the group, I wish him the best possible recovery."

Hernandez has made 11 appearances, including 10 starts, for Bayern this season, having missed six weeks with an adductor injury sustained in September.

Dragan Stojkovic was made to rue Serbia's injury problems after their defeat by Brazil, believing they could have mounted a greater challenge with a fully-fit squad.

The Eagles went down 2-0 against the five-time World Cup winners in their opening match at the finals, with Richarlison's second-half double settling the Group F clash at the Lusail Iconic Stadium.

Having just returned from a foot injury, Aleksandar Mitrovic failed to register a single shot on goal, while Dusan Vlahovic appeared from the bench after recently recovering from a groin problem, and winger Filip Kostic was an unused substitute due to muscular issues.

Stojkovic believes his side felt the consequences of having three key players lacking fitness.

"One of the factors [in Serbia's performance] that was quite surprising for me was the physical factor," he said. "We simply could not recognise our team.

"In the second half, we fell physically, and we were no longer a team. Of course, Brazil knew how to take advantage of this because they have excellent players, and they punished us.

"We have three key players who are injured, it's too much for us. We are not Brazil with 200 million people, we are a very small country. They got injured just before the World Cup, so it's really unlucky.

"Tonight, we would have a different scenario if my players were healthy, but there’s no shame to lose against Brazil.

"It would be a completely different story, 100 per cent, but they are not ready and that’s the way it is."

Serbia have now lost eight of their 10 World Cup matches since 2006, with only Australia (nine) registering more defeats during that time.

Stojkovic's side will look to respond when they face Cameroon on Monday, before concluding their Group G campaign against Switzerland four days later.

Tite is confident Neymar will continue playing at the World Cup for Brazil despite the ankle injury he sustained in a bruising opening contest with Serbia.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward limped off in the latter stages of the Selecao's 2-0 victory, which was sealed by Richarlison's second-half brace, having been repeatedly fouled at Lusail Stadium.

Neymar looked close to tears as he received treatment on the bench, before being pictured with a swollen ankle as he made his way to the dressing room.

Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar confirmed the 30-year-old will undergo further assessment in the next 24 to 48 hours but Tite, who revealed Neymar continued playing a further 11 minutes after sustaining the injury, is adamant he will return.

"[Neymar] felt this pain throughout the game, but he decided to stay on the pitch to help his team," the head coach said. 

"So it's remarkable that he could bear this pain while his team was playing. He stayed 11 minutes on the pitch after his injury, until the moment he could no longer continue, and he was substituted.

"We are confident that Neymar will continue playing; he will continue playing in the World Cup.

"I didn't see Neymar was injured – the capacity he had to overcome it tricked me, I only saw it now in the video. When he actually dribbled, it caused that injury, and in that second goal you see when he controlled the ball that he felt it."

Richarlison scored twice as Brazil opened their World Cup campaign with a routine 2-0 win over Serbia.

The Tottenham forward broke the deadlock with a close-range finish just after the hour mark at the Lusail Iconic Stadium.

Richarlison then sealed the points with a stunning acrobatic effort 17 minutes from time as Tite's side made a winning start in Group G.

The Selecao remain unbeaten in their opening match at the finals since 1934, when they lost 3-1 to Spain in the first round.

Unbeaten in their past 15 World Cup group games, Brazil controlled the first half, but without creating many goalscoring opportunities.

Casemiro tested Vanja Milinkovic-Savic with an ambitious effort from distance, while the Serbia goalkeeper was quickly off his line to prevent Vinicius Junior latching onto Thiago Silva's precise throughball.

The Selecao carved their opponents' defence open with a neat one-two between Raphinha and Lucas Paqueta in the 35th minute, but the Barcelona forward could only shoot straight at Milinkovic-Savic.

Brazil carried a greater threat after the break. Milinkovic-Savic rescued Serbia by denying Raphinha, who had dispossessed Nemanja Gudelj outside his own penalty area, while Neymar fired wide from close range.

Alex Sandro rattled the post from 30 yards before the Samba Boys finally broke through in the 62nd minute; Richarlison prodding home the rebound after Milinkovic-Savic parried Vinicius' initial effort. 

Richarlison then gave Brazil breathing space in emphatic fashion 11 minutes later; controlling Vinicius' low, hard cross with his left foot, before swivelling and sending a magnificent acrobatic volley flying into the bottom corner with his right.

Tite's side almost increased their advantage as Casemiro hit the crossbar and Milinkovic-Savic denied Rodrygo, but the two-goal margin was enough to lift them to the Group G summit.

Jose Mourinho says Japan's shock World Cup win over Germany was "not a crazy surprise," criticising European football's "big focus on individuals and egos."

The Samurai Blue produced an inspired comeback from 1-0 down as second-half goals from Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano stunned Hansi Flick's side at the Khalifa International Stadium.

The four-time champions, who led through Ilkay Gundogan's penalty, lost a World Cup match after opening the scoring for the first time since a 2-1 defeat by Bulgaria in the 1994 quarter-finals.

Mourinho, who coached South Korea's Son Heung-min at Tottenham, was not overly shocked by the result, saluting the collective mentality demonstrated by Asian footballers.

"Of course, it's a fantastic achievement but, to be honest, it was not a crazy surprise," the Roma head coach said. "Japan is a good team, has good players, [and] is getting an accumulation of experience at these events. 

"The majority of the players, they play in Europe where they develop faster and understand better what is the high level. 

"I think the mentality of the players and the team can also make a difference. At this moment, in European football, there is a big focus on individuals and egos.

"When I look to your profile as people, your profile as a country - I never coached Japanese players, but I coached Asian players.

"In my case, I was lucky because I coached the best Asian player, and I understand that the mentality is really special. The team is the most important thing. People play for the team, they don't play for themselves."

Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score in five World Cups, but Portugal required a couple of late goals to rescue a nervy 3-2 win against Ghana on Thursday.

Just two days after having his Manchester United contract terminated by mutual consent, free agent Ronaldo converted a penalty to break down a stubborn Ghana side in their Group H opener. 

Ghana were furious with the awarding of the 65th-minute spot-kick for Mohammed Salisu's challenge on Ronaldo, but they hit back through Andre Ayew in the 73rd minute.

However, Joao Felix fired Portugal back in front and substitute Rafael Leao added a third, which proved important when Osman Bukari scored a late consolation for Ghana, who missed a glorious chance to snatch a point through Inaki Williams.

Ronaldo was denied by Lawrence Ati-Zigi after a heavy first touch and headed wide from the best of Portugal's limited first-half chances, before having a goal ruled out for a foul.

Alidu Seidu was lucky to only be shown a yellow early in the second half after locking heads with Joao Felix, but Ghana were less fortunate when a penalty was given to Portugal

Salisu was penalised for his challenge on Ronaldo, despite appearing to touch the ball before the player, and the superstar forward made no mistake from the spot.

That sparked some life into Ghana and Ayew steered home a leveller after Mohammed Kudus pulled the ball back into his path, but Portugal's own response was equally as swift.

Joao Felix raced onto Bruno Fernandes' throughball and dinked over Ati-Zigi, before Leao – on the field for just 45 seconds – curled in a delightful third for Fernando Santos' side.

Bukari, himself introduced from the bench, headed in from a Baba Rahman cross to set up a tense finish and Williams almost snuck an equaliser when he took the ball off the feet of an oblivious Costa before slipping at the crucial moment. 

Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first ever player to score in five different World Cups after finding the net for Portugal against Ghana on Thursday.

The 37-year-old, who is currently without a club after mutually parting ways with Manchester United on Tuesday, converted a second-half penalty to give Portugal the lead.

That was Ronaldo's eighth World Cup goal, each of those coming in the group stage – the most of any player yet to score in the knockout stages. 

Pele, Uwe Seeler and Miroslav Klose have all netted at four World Cups, but Ronaldo is now out in front in that regard after scoring at a fifth finals.

Here, Stats Perform looks at each of Ronaldo's previous seven goals on the biggest stage of them all, three of which came in one game.

Portugal 2-0 Iran (Frankfurt, 2006)

Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot for the first of his World Cup goals against Iran in 2006, making him Portugal's youngest ever scorer in the competition at 21 years and 132 days, a record that stands to this day. Despite Portugal finishing third that year, a teenage Ronaldo did not add to his goals tally.

Portugal 7-0 North Korea (Cape Town, 2010)

The Selecao put seven goals past North Korea, with Ronaldo scoring the sixth of those to end a two-year wait for an international goal. Portugal failed to find the net in any of their other three matches in South Africa and were eliminated by Spain in the last 16.

Portugal 2-1 Ghana (Brasilia, 2014)

Ronaldo scored a late winner in Portugal's final group match against Ghana – a simple finish following some poor defending – but it was not enough to prevent his side from exiting Brazil 2014 in the first round behind the United States and tournament winners Germany.

Portugal 3-3 Spain (Sochi, 2018)

Entering the tournament as the world's best player, Ronaldo lived up to his billing by scoring a hat-trick in what will go down as one of the all-time great individual World Cup performances. After opening the scoring from the penalty spot, the superstar forward beat David de Gea with a shot from outside the box and then scored a late free-kick to rescue a point in a topsy-turvy thriller.

Portugal 1-0 Morocco (Moscow, 2018)

Ronaldo was not finished there, either, as he made it four goals for the tournament with an unstoppable header inside four minutes against Morocco, with that proving to be the winner. However, his goalscoring touch eluded him in the knockout rounds as he fired a blank in the 2-1 loss to Uruguay in the last 16.

Ecuador believe they can hurt the Netherlands as they look to take a huge step towards the knockout rounds by springing another World Cup surprise.

The South American side cruised to victory over hosts Qatar in the tournament opener last Sunday.

A double from Enner Valencia secured a 2-0 win, giving Ecuador the chance to triumph in their opening two matches of a World Cup for the first time since 2006.

Yet their record against European nations suggests that will be a difficult challenge.

Indeed, Ecuador are winless in their last four World Cup games against European sides (D1 L3), scoring just once across those four matches.

The Netherlands, meanwhile, are unbeaten in their last eight World Cup matches against South American sides (W5 D3), since a 3-2 defeat to Brazil in the quarter-finals in 1994, though that run includes a penalty shoot-out loss to Argentina in the 2014 semi-finals.

But, after seeing Argentina stunned by Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Ecuador goalkeeper Hernan Galindez is hopeful Ecuador can throw the form book out the window and take control of Group A.

"I think that Argentina's defeat will not be the last surprise of this World Cup," said Galindez.

"Despite the victory of the Netherlands, they were evenly matched against Senegal. There are certainly ways to hurt the Netherlands.

"It will be a tough match, but I expect the Netherlands to approach us with respect."

Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk agreed with Galindez's assessment of the Oranje's performance in a 2-0 win over Senegal, in which he saw plenty of room for improvement.

"Going forward we sometimes tried to force things, and we too often left ourselves exposed to Senegal's counter-attacks," he told NOS.

"That is an area in which we will need to improve because it is an art that our next opponents, Ecuador, are very good at.

"But I am optimistic because I feel we are going to get better."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Netherlands - Cody Gakpo

PSV star Gakpo is the subject of speculation linking him with a move to the Premier League and his goalscoring start to the tournament will only have increased his admirers.

He has been involved in four goals in his last four games for the Netherlands in all competitions (3 goals, 1 assist), twice as many as in his first six appearances for the national side (1 goal, 1 assist).

Ecuador - Pervis Estupinan

Arguably Ecuador's best creative outlet will come from defence. Left-back Estupinan created the most chances (22) in CONMEBOL qualifying and played more passes into the final third (19) than any other player in their dominant opening win over Qatar.

PREDICTION

These two teams have never met in competitive action, the Oranje winning one of their two previous friendlies, and Stats Perform's supercomputer anticipates the Netherlands will be able to begin to start thinking about the knockouts with victory in this one. 

Van Gaal's men are given a 54.1 per cent chance of prevailing compared to 20.8 for Ecuador and 25.1 per cent for the draw. 

Eden Hazard has told Germany's players to stick to the football rather than protesting after Hansi Flick's men fell to a shock 2-1 loss against Japan in their Qatar 2022 opener.

Germany's starting line-up covered their mouths in protest during their pre-match team photo on Wednesday over FIFA's response to the OneLove campaign.

Football's governing body warned any teams that backed the anti-discrimination initiative faced sanctions, including a yellow card for captains who sported OneLove armbands.

However, Die Mannschaft warmed up for the Japan match wearing training shirts featuring rainbow-coloured trim in another apparent show of support for LGBTQ+ rights.

While the stance of the Germany players was widely praised, Belgium and Real Madrid forward Hazard believes they should leave non-footballing matters for others.

"They lost the match," Hazard told reporters. "They would have been better off not doing it and winning. 

"We're here to play football. I'm not here to pass on a political message, there are people who are better placed for that. We want to concentrate on the football."

Germany and Belgium were two of seven European teams that had planned to wear the specially designed armbands in Qatar, where same-sex relationships are criminalised.

Asked about his own stance on the issue, and whether he would have liked to have shown his support, Hazard said: "I'm not at ease talking about it. I'm here to play football.

"We were kind of forbidden from... I didn't want to start the match with a yellow card; it would have been annoying for the rest of the tournament.

"If I were to redo it, maybe I would wear it."

Quickfire late goals from Ritsu Doan and fellow substitute Takuma Asano gave Japan victory over Germany after Ilkay Gundogan had opened the scoring from the penalty spot.

Belgium dodged an upset in their opening group match, meanwhile, as Michy Batshuayi's strike earned them a 1-0 win over Canada at Ahmed bin Ali Stadium.

Cameroon coach Rigobert Song made no secret of his pride in Breel Embolo despite the Switzerland forward scoring the winning goal against his birth nation at the World Cup on Thursday.

Embolo's second-half strike from Xherdan Shaqiri's cross proved decisive as Switzerland won 1-0 at Al Janoub Stadium, giving Switzerland a victorious start to their Group G campaign.

The goal was even more notable due to the fact Embolo was born in Cameroon but represents Switzerland after spending much of his childhood there.

Despite not choosing to play for the nation of his birth, Embolo retains links to the country and Song revealed the pair share a strong personal relationship.

As such, Song felt a degree of pride in seeing Embolo prevail on Thursday.

Asked if he had preferred Embolo to have played for Cameroon, Song told reporters: "Yes, but that's the nature of the game.

"We are all proud of our country, you saw he didn't celebrate his goal. But again this [players representing other countries] is part and parcel of football.

"I'm happy for him and proud of him. Because he's playing for the Switzerland team, yes I'd have liked him on my side, but that's not the way it went. That's just the way of life.

"For us the most important thing is how we played, rather than who scored against us."

Song and Embolo shared a warm embrace at full-time, with the former explaining it was important to greet the Monaco player as a show of respect.

"We know each other, he's my little brother, I'm like the big brother, we've often spoken on the phone as well," Song said.

"I wanted to congratulate him, it's fair play. Because we are from the same family [country] but on different teams, it doesn't mean we are not going to be on good terms.

"He had a good game, I wanted to tell him. I'm not going to be a sore loser, we're still brothers at the end of the day."

Switzerland boss Murat Yakin was less forthcoming than Song in general as he addressed the media afterwards, but he did express a hint of pleasure in the narrative behind Embolo's goal.

"We know his story, his past in Cameroon," he added. "Well, you can be friendly up to kick-off and then they are your opponents.

"[Embolo's story] is football, it's writing history, these stories. Of course, he wants to score for his team and he fulfilled his task, so we are very happy. He had good moments through the match. He fulfilled his task well."

Switzerland face Brazil next on Monday, while Cameroon will hope to bounce back against Serbia the same day – another defeat will see them equal Mexico's all-time record for the most successive World Cup losses (nine).

Sometimes, one Kim is just not enough.

South Korea certainly thought so after naming an entire defence with the surname of Kim for their World Cup Group H opener against Uruguay on Thursday. If that wasn't enough, their goalkeeper was also called Kim!

Kim Seung-gyu will don the gloves, while the back four comprises Kim Jin-su, Kim Min-jae, Kim Moon-hwan and Kim Young-gwon.

To confuse observers further, the line-up also included two Hwangs! Pity the commentators!