The star power was out Thursday in Qatar, as two of the top players in the 2022 FIFA World Cup saw their first action of the tournament.

With Cristiano Ronaldo leading the way, Portugal outlasted Ghana 3-2, as Ronaldo scored on a penalty kick in the 65th minute.

Meanwhile, behind the play of Neymar and two goals from Richarlison, Brazil began their bid to extend their all-time record of five World Cup titles by beating Serbia 2-0.

In the two early games, Switzerland put themselves in strong position to advance to the knockout stage with a 1-0 win over Cameroon, and the 1930 and 1950 World Cup champions Uruguay played South Korea to a scoreless draw.

Here is a full rundown of Thursday's results and Friday's schedule in Qatar, as well as further analysis regarding each of Thursday's four matches.

Thursday's World Cup Results

Switzerland def. Cameroon, 1-0

Uruguay draw South Korea, 0-0

Portugal def. Ghana, 3-2

Brazil def. Serbia, 2-0

Friday's World Cup Schedule

Wales vs. Iran, 5 a.m. ET

Qatar vs. Senegal, 8 a.m. ET

Netherlands vs. Ecuador, 11 a.m. ET

England vs. United States, 2 p.m. ET

Switzerland 1, Cameroon 0

A single goal scored by a player who was born in Cameroon sealed a 1-0 for Switzerland in their World Cup opener against the African nation.

Following a scoreless first half, Breel Embolo scored for the Swiss in the 48th minute from a perfect pass from veteran Xherdan Shaqiri:

In a show of respect to the country of his birth, Embolo did not celebrate what ended up being the game-winning goal:

While Embolo scored the lone marker for Switzerland, it was goalkeeper Yann Sommer who was recognized as Man of the Match thanks to his clean sheet.

Cameroon put five shots on target just to Switzerland's three, but Sommer turned them all away and ensured a victory for the Swiss.

Switzerland has reached the knockout round in three of the past four World Cups, and Thursday's win puts them in a strong position to make it four out of five.

The Swiss will be back in action Monday when they face top World Cup contender Brazil, while Cameroon will take on Serbia that same day.

Uruguay 0, South Korea 0

Uruguay largely took the play to South Korea on Thursday, but they were unable to capitalize on their scoring chances, leading to a 0-0 draw.

Despite having 56 percent of the possession, getting 10 shots toward goal to South Korea's seven and one shot on goal to South Korea's none, Uruguay could not find a breakthrough.

Uruguay twice had Korean goalkeeper Kim Seung-Gyu beaten, only to hit the post on each occasion.

The first instance occurred late in the first half when veteran defender Diego Godín put a header off the post on a corner kick:

Then, in the 89th minute, Federico Valverde made a hopeful bid toward goal from well outside the box, and although he struck it well, he too rang it off the post:

Despite the draw, Uruguay are still strongly in the mix to advance to the knockout stage at a fourth consecutive World Cup. That included a fourth-place finish in 2010 and a trip to the quarterfinals four years ago.

Uruguay will have perhaps their toughest Group H matchup on Monday against Portugal, while South Korea will clash with Ghana.

Portugal 3, Ghana 2

Thanks in part to a historic goal by Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal started their 2022 FIFA World Cup in style with a 3-2 win over Ghana.

With the score tied 0-0, Ronaldo was taken down in the Ghana box, and he converted on a confidently struck penalty kick in the 65th minute to put Portugal ahead 1-0:

That goal put Ronaldo all alone in the record books, as he became the first man to score at five different World Cups:

While it seemed at the time that Portugal would be able to run out the rest of the clock and secure a victory, Ghana fought hard and made things interesting.

A 73rd-minute goal by Ghana's André Ayew tied the match at 1-1, but that was short-lived, with goals by João Félix in the 78th minute and Rafael Leão in the 80th minute putting Portugal ahead 3-1.

An 89th-minute goal by Osman Bukari restored hope for Ghana, but Portugal buckled down the rest of the way and finished out the win.

The triumph put Portugal atop Group H after Uruguay and South Korea tied, and Portugal will look to take another step toward advancing to the knockout stage when they face Uruguay on Monday, while Ghana and South Korea will meet in the other match.

Brazil 2, Serbia 0

Brazil cemented themselves as top World Cup contenders with a 2-0 win over Serbia in the final match of the day on Thursday.

Serbia were on their heels for essentially the entire match, as Brazil possessed the ball 59 percent of the time and fired off 22 shots with eight on goal, while none of Serbia's five shots were on frame.

Although Serbia managed to weather the storm into the second half, Richarlison finally broke the scoreless tie with his first career World Cup goal in the 62nd minute, depositing a rebound into the net:

Eleven minutes later, Richarlison scored an even more spectacular goal, putting a volley past goalkeeper Vanja Milinković-Savić:

Neymar receives much of the praise when it comes to Brazil, but they boast one of the deepest teams in the World Cup, and that was on full display Thursday.

Brazil can essentially stamp their ticket into the knockout round Monday if they can beat Switzerland, who bested Cameroon 1-0 on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Serbia and Cameroon will face each other in a match between two teams looking to bounce back from opening losses.