Suarez sends Uruguay into second round

Luis Suarez put both Uruguay and host Russia into the second round of the World Cup while at the same time eliminating Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Suarez scored the winning goal in his 100th international appearance for Uruguay, knocking in a corner kick from Carlos Sanchez in the 23rd minute to give the two-time champions a 1-0 victory over the Saudis on Wednesday at Rostov-on-don, Russia.

It was the Barcelona striker’s 52nd goal for his country.

“None of the games at the World Cup are easy to win,” Suarez said. “You can never be relaxed.”

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

“We need to fine-tune some things, but we are more than proud because for three World Cups in a row we have advanced to the knockout round, so we want to enjoy this beautiful moment,” Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said.

At Kazan, Russia, Diego Costa scored on a deflection to lead Spain past Iran.

Costa converted in the 54th minute off a pass from Andres Iniesta. The powerful striker turned in the area and took a shot but the ball deflected off Ramin Rezeian before bouncing back onto Costa’s knee and into the net.

Costa, who also scored two goals in the opening match, 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.

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

Spain 1, Iran 0 —