Spain 1, Iran 0

Kazan, Russia — Patience is a virtue, and Spain showed plenty of it to overcome a tough challenge from Iran at the World Cup.

During a frustrating evening at the Kazan Arena when the 2010 champions struggled to break through the stubborn Iranian defense, Diego Costa scored on a deflection for a 1-0 win on Wednesday.

Costa scored in the 54th minute after being set up by Andres Iniesta. The powerful striker turned in the area and took a shot that deflected off Ramin Rezeian before bouncing back onto Costa's knee and into the net.

It was far from a beautiful win, but the goal was enough to make Spain coach Fernando Hierro smile.

"We have four points," Hierro said. "We were happier after the match against Portugal, but we only had one point."

Spain and Portugal lead Group B with four points each following their 3-3 draw and 1-0 victories. Iran has three points, but Morocco has been eliminated.

Costa, who scored twice against Portugal, has three goals at this year's World Cup, trailing Cristiano Ronaldo by one. He also has nine goals in his last nine starts for Spain.

He only had one chance against Iran, and he converted it.

"It's going be tight (with Ronaldo)," Hierro said. "I know Diego is really committed, he has scored three goals in three matches. He can do better, he works hard, he is fighting both at the back and at the front."

Facing a very compact Iranian team that came out to defend, Spain pressed high and controlled much of the game but found it difficult to threaten against Iran's 10-man defense.

Spurred on by their vociferous fans, Iran's imposing players did well to handle Spain's attacks. Iran was also dangerous on the break, using the speed of its attacking players to threaten the Spanish back four but without creating many real chances.

Spain was mostly dangerous from set-pieces, including in the 25th minute when a free kick from David Silva that took a deflection was stopped by Iran goalkeeper Ali Beiranvand.

Spain continued to apply strong pressure in the second half and Beiranvand stopped a strike from Sergio Busquets in the 49th minute with a superb one-handed diving save. He then palmed the rebound away before Lucas Vazquez could get to the ball.

Hierro's players were almost caught against the run of the play when Karim Ansarifard unleashed a powerful strike that ended up in the side-netting following a long thrown in.

Then, trailing in the second half, Iran nearly equalized when Saeid Ezatolahi had a goal ruled out on video review.

Iran continued to push hard and managed to challenge with some fast counterattacks. Spain was lucky not to concede toward the end as Mehdi Taremi connected with a cross from Ansarifard, but his header from close range went over the crossbar.

Uruguay 1, Saudi Arabia 0

Rostov-on-Don, Russia — With a single goal, Luis Suarez settled the fate of four teams in the group stage of the World Cup.

The controversial striker, who was making his 100th appearance in his national team's light blue, scored to give Uruguay a victory over Saudi Arabia and a spot in the round of 16.

The result, though, had a domino effect in Group A. It also put host Russia into the next round while eliminating both Saudi Arabia and Egypt at the same time.

Suarez, who was kicked out of the last World Cup for biting an opponent during a match, knocked in a corner kick from Carlos Sanchez in the 23rd minute for his 52nd goal for his country in that century of matches.

"We are more than proud because we've reached the knockout stage at three successive World Cups. It's a beautiful moment and we want to enjoy it," Suarez said. "We still haven't hit our stride so we need to tweak some things."

Uruguay and Russia both have six points from their opening two matches, putting them into the round of 16 with a match to go. They will face each other on Monday in Samara with first place in Group A on the line.

Besides scoring, Suarez led his team with a hard-working performance. He fell back to defend and raced forward alongside Edinson Cavani on the counterattack.

"I don't want to hand out empty praise but Suarez is a crucial player for us. And he has that enormous capacity to score goals," Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said. "He lives under enormous pressure, but he lives with it. He takes that pressure on."

The 71-year-old Tabarez is the oldest coach at the tournament and also led Uruguay to the World Cup semifinals in 2010.

"We do want to score more but there are other positives: no yellow cards, no injuries," Tabarez said. "We'll see who we get now (in the next round). You don't see 10-0 games at the World Cup anymore. All the teams out there are good we respect all of them. That is a cardinal rule for us."

Portugal 1, Morocco 0

Moscow — Off the top of his head, Cristiano Ronaldo scored yet another goal, set a European record and eliminated Morocco from the World Cup.

The Portugal forward headed in a fourth-minute cross from the right to give Portugal the victory. It was his 85th goal for his country, the most for any European player in almost 150 years of international soccer.

"It was beautiful for me," Ronaldo said after being voted the man of the match for the second straight game.

Ronaldo celebrated his goal by pointing at his chest during a trademark run and soaring leap toward the corner flag at the Luzhniki Stadium.

The goal moved the 33-year-old Ronaldo ahead of Ferenc Puskas, another Real Madrid great who scored his last goal for Hungary in 1956. He is alone in second place worldwide behind Ali Daei's 109 goals for Iran.

"He has a great coach," Portugal coach Fernando Santos said through a translator, laughing when asked about Ronaldo. "He's like a port wine. He knows how to refine his capacity and age at his best."

Ronaldo's four goals top the individual scoring chart at this year's World Cup. Buoyed by his hat trick in a 3-3 draw against Spain on Friday, including a spectacular free kick late in the game, Ronaldo scored against Morocco with his first meaningful touch of the match.

He was too strong for marker Manuel Da Costa and found space in the goalmouth to meet Joao Moutinho's cross following a short corner.

Ronaldo had two more free kick chances, each from less than 20 yards. But both were blocked by a solid wall of defenders as the Portuguese ground out a result from an often poor display, much like it did two years ago on its run to the European Championship title.

There were 42 fouls in the match, and only two Portuguese shots on target. Most of the best play came from Morocco, but the North Africans now have no chance of advancing from the group stage after a second straight 1-0 loss.

Morocco had enough scoring chances, nearly all from set pieces, and three came in a five-minute spell early in the second half. Younes Belhanda was twice denied by goalkeeper Rui Patricio's diving saves, and defender Mehdi Benatia scooped a shot over the bar.

In stoppage time, Benatia lifted another shot too high with an even clearer chance.

"Those who know how to be in the penalty box and know how to make plays are the ones who make all the difference," Morocco coach Herve Renard said.