Paris Saint Germain (PSG) striker Edinson Cavani scored twice as he helped Uruguay beat Portugal 2-1 to secure a quarterfinal spot at the ongoing FIFA World Cup tournament in Russia.

Cavani gave the South Americans the lead as early as the 7th minute off a fantastic assist from Barcelona star Luis Suarez.

Uruguay thereafter held onto their slender advantage until halftime only for the defence to be breached ten minutes after restart when former Real Madrid defender Pepe scored to become the first player to achieve the feat against the watertight Uruguay defence at the tournament in Russia.

Portugal were, however, not at parity for long following another piece of brilliance from the aforementioned Cavani who netted a fine second goal for his side just seven minutes after the European champions equalised.

Fernando Santos’ side threw everything at the Uruguay rearguard with the hope of forcing extra time at least but that didn’t see the light of the day as the former champions closed out the game to book a quarterfinal meeting with 1998 World Cup winners France.