Cristiano Ronaldo received great news just minutes before his 2018 World Cup debut: he was going to avoid jail time in a case of tax fraud. Maybe that was all the boost the Portuguese striker needed in Russia. Or maybe he was just in the mood to unleash a legacy-defining performance upon the unsuspecting Soccer world.

Regardless, the all-timer left it all on the field during Friday's performance. Spain came into the highly-anticipated contest as the favorite in Group B, though Portugal was expected to slide into second place fairly easily. With one impeccable game - and a little luck - Ronaldo changed the conversation.

Ronaldo's incredible game

It took less than five minutes to get the scoring started. Ronaldo drew a penalty from Spain's Nacho just minutes into the contest. He quickly put the penalty shot away, scoring his first goal of the World Cup campaign. Spain would knot it up though, which was seemingly going to be the case going into the half. Then, for once, the world's greatest player got lucky.

As the clock ticked towards halftime, Ronaldo took a shot that should've served as an easy save for the Spanish goaltender. For whatever reason, however, it knocked off his hands and into the net.

Suddenly, Portugal carried a 2-1 lead into the locker room.

Over the course of several minutes in the second half, Spain took control. They scored two quick goals and asserted their predicted dominance, taking a 3-2 lead.

When Portugal needed a savior, guess who stepped up: Cristiano Ronaldo. A brilliant free-kick made itself over the defensive wall and into the net to salvage a tie against Spain.

Ronaldo joined the likes of Miroslav Klose, Uwe Seeler, and Pele as the only players to score in four different World Cup competitions.

He also became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in World Cup history and matched his previous career total of goals in the competition.

Analyzing World Cup Group B

Friday's draw between Spain and Portugal doesn't necessarily hamper either team going forward. So long as they each take care of business against Iran and Morocco - as expected - they'll find themselves in the knockout stage of the World Cup.

Iran's dramatic win off a Moroccan own goal complicates matters, though. Suddenly, they're just one upset victory away from likely finding themselves in the next round, which would end Spain or Portugal's journey surprisingly early.

If Ronaldo plays like he did on Friday, Portugal will have little to fear.
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