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. South Korea advanced to the knockout stage for the first time since 2010. 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.
Teams Draw position Team Pot Confederation Method ofqualification Date ofqualification Finalsappearance Lastappearance Previous bestperformance FIFA Rankings March 2022 October 2022 H1 1 UEFA UEFA second round Path C winners 8th 2018 Third place (1966) 8 9 H2 4 CAF CAF third round winners 4th 2014 Quarter-finals (2010) 60 61 H3 2 CONMEBOL CONMEBOL round robin third place 24 March 2022 14th 2018 Winners (1930, 1950) 13 14 H4 3 AFC AFC third round Group A runners-up 1 February 2022 11th 2018 Fourth place (2002) 29 28 Notes
Standings
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.
Matches All times listed are local, AST (UTC+3).
Uruguay vs South Korea 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.
GK 23Sergio RochetRB 22Martín Cáceres CB 3 Diego Godín (c)CB 2 José GiménezLB 16Mathías Olivera CM 15Federico ValverdeCM 6 Rodrigo BentancurCM 5 Matías Vecino RF 8 Facundo Pellistri CF 9 Luis Suárez LF 11Darwin NúñezSubstitutions:FW 21Edinson Cavani MF 7 Nicolás de la Cruz DF 17Matías Viña DF 13Guillermo Varela Manager:Diego Alonso GK 1 Kim Seung-gyuRB 15Kim Moon-hwanCB 4 Kim Min-jaeCB 19Kim Young-gwonLB 3 Kim Jin-suCM 6 Hwang In-beomCM 5 Jung Woo-youngRW 17Na Sang-ho AM 10Lee Jae-sung LW 7 Son Heung-min (c)CF 16Hwang Ui-jo Substitutions:FW 9 Cho Gue-sung MF 13Son Jun-ho MF 18Lee Kang-in Manager: Paulo Bento
Man of the Match: Federico Valverde (Uruguay)
Assistant referees: Nicolas Danos (France) Cyril Gringore (France) Fourth official: István Kovács (Romania) Reserve assistant referee: Vasile Marinescu (Romania) Video assistant referee: Jérôme Brisard (France) Assistant video assistant referees: Benoît Millot (France) Djibril Camara (Senegal) Rédouane Jiyed (Morocco) Stand-by assistant video assistant referee: Rafael Foltyn (Germany)
Portugal vs Ghana 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).
GK 22Diogo CostaRB 20João CanceloCB 4 Rúben DiasCB 13Danilo Pereira LB 5 Raphaël GuerreiroDM 18Rúben Neves CM 8 Bruno Fernandes CM 25Otávio AM 10Bernardo Silva CF 11João Félix CF 7 Cristiano Ronaldo (c) Substitutions:MF 14William Carvalho FW 15Rafael Leão MF 6 João Palhinha FW 26Gonçalo Ramos MF 17João Mário Manager:Fernando Santos GK 1 Lawrence Ati-ZigiCB 18Daniel AmarteyCB 23Alexander Djiku CB 4 Mohammed SalisuRWB26Alidu Seidu LWB17Baba RahmanCM 5 Thomas ParteyCM 20Mohammed Kudus CM 21Salis Abdul Samed CF 10André Ayew (c) CF 19Iñaki Williams Substitutions:DF 2 Tariq Lamptey MF 11Osman Bukari FW 9 Jordan Ayew MF 8 Daniel-Kofi Kyereh FW 25Antoine Semenyo Manager:Otto Addo
Man of the Match: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Assistant referees: Kyle Atkins (United States) Corey Parker (United States) Fourth official: Stéphanie Frappart (France) Reserve assistant referee: Karen Díaz Medina (Mexico) Video assistant referee: Armando Villarreal (United States) Assistant video assistant referees: Drew Fischer (Canada) Alessandro Giallatini (Italy) Shaun Evans (Australia) Stand-by assistant video assistant referee: Elvis Noupue (Cameroon)
South Korea vs Ghana 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.
GK 1 Kim Seung-gyuRB 15Kim Moon-hwanCB 4 Kim Min-jae CB 19Kim Young-gwon LB 3 Kim Jin-suCM 6 Hwang In-beomCM 5 Jung Woo-young RW 22Kwon Chang-hoon AM 25Jeong Woo-yeong LW 7 Son Heung-min (c)CF 9 Cho Gue-sungSubstitutions:MF 17Na Sang-ho MF 18Lee Kang-in FW 16Hwang Ui-jo DF 20Kwon Kyung-won Manager: Paulo Bento GK 1 Lawrence Ati-ZigiRB 2 Tariq Lamptey CB 18Daniel Amartey CB 4 Mohammed SalisuLB 14Gideon Mensah DM 21Salis Abdul SamedCM 5 Thomas ParteyCM 20Mohammed Kudus RF 10André Ayew (c) CF 19Iñaki WilliamsLF 9 Jordan Ayew Substitutions:MF 22Kamaldeen Sulemana MF 8 Daniel-Kofi Kyereh DF 3 Denis Odoi DF 23Alexander Djiku DF 17Baba Rahman Manager:Otto Addo
Man of the Match: Mohammed Kudus (Ghana)
Assistant referees: Gary Beswick (England) Adam Nunn (England) Fourth official: Kevin Ortega (Peru) Reserve assistant referee: Michael Orué (Peru) Video assistant referee: Tomasz Kwiatkowski (Poland) Assistant video assistant referees: Alejandro Hernández Hernández (Spain) Kyle Atkins (United States) Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea (Spain) Stand-by assistant video assistant referee: Corey Parker (United States)
Portugal vs Uruguay 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.
GK 22Diogo CostaRB 20João CanceloCB 4 Rúben Dias CB 3 PepeLB 19Nuno Mendes DM 18Rúben Neves CM 10Bernardo SilvaCM 14William Carvalho AM 8 Bruno FernandesCF 7 Cristiano Ronaldo (c) CF 11João Félix Substitutions:DF 5 Raphaël Guerreiro FW 15Rafael Leão MF 23Matheus Nunes FW 26Gonçalo Ramos MF 6 João Palhinha Manager:Fernando Santos GK 23Sergio RochetCB 2 José GiménezCB 3 Diego Godín (c) CB 19Sebastián CoatesDM 6 Rodrigo Bentancur CM 15Federico ValverdeCM 5 Matías Vecino RW 13Guillermo VarelaLW 16Mathías Olivera CF 11Darwin Núñez CF 21Edinson Cavani Substitutions:FW 8 Facundo Pellistri MF 10Giorgian de Arrascaeta FW 18Maxi Gómez FW 9 Luis Suárez DF 17Matías Viña Manager:Diego Alonso
Man of the Match: Bruno Fernandes (Portugal)
Assistant referees: Mohammadreza Mansouri (Iran) Mohammadreza Abolfazli (Iran) Fourth official: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar) Reserve assistant referee: Saud Al-Maqaleh (Qatar) Video assistant referee: Abdulla Al-Marri (Qatar) Assistant video assistant referees: Shaun Evans (Australia) Anton Shchetinin (Australia) Rédouane Jiyed (Morocco) Stand-by assistant video assistant referee: Ashley Beecham (Australia)
Ghana vs Uruguay 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.