Luis Suarez scored on his 100th international appearance to send Uruguay through to the knockout stage along with hosts Russia as Saudi Arabia and Egypt were eliminated from Group A.
The Barcelona star became the first Uruguayan to score at three different World Cup finals when he prospered from another Saudi blunder midway through the first half in sweltering Rostov.
It was just as well too because it was a second flat performance at this tournament from a team boasting the likes of Suarez and Edinson Cavani following an unconvincing win over Egypt in their opener.
For the Saudis, there was at least a measure of redemption in the wake of their horror show against the Russians. They remain on a 12-game winless streak at the World Cup going back 24 years, and will be hoping to sign off with a win against Egypt in what is now a dead rubber.
They had endured a miserable start to the tournament following that embarrassing 5-0 defeat to Russia in Moscow. Even their team flight to Rostov had gone badly after one of the engines caught fire.
The nation’s sports authority chief Turki al-Sheikh had to apologise to Saudi heir Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after admitting that the team gave ‘less than five per cent effort’ in their Group A opener.
Meanwhile, Diego Costa struck again for Spain to seal a one nil win over stubborn opponents Iran, who had a goal disallowed for offside.
Costa, who scored twice for Spain during their three all draw against Portugal on Friday, added his third goal of the tournament when Ramin Rezaeian's clearance deflected off the Atletico Madrid striker's leg and into the net.
Iran thought they had leveled things up ten minutes later, but Saeid Ezatolahi's goal was ruled offside by the assistant referee with the decision then backed up by VAR. The win puts Spain on top of Group B with four points, same points with Portugal but with better fair play points.
-Dailymail