Portugal through to Round of 16 after VAR drama against Croatia – Modric faces World Cup farewell

VAR decision in stoppage time

Because the match had seemingly already been decided. After Ronaldo's goal and Gonçalo Ramos' later header in the 90th+4, the Portuguese were leading 2-1 and thought they were through. In the 13th minute of stoppage time, Josko Gvardiol's apparent equalizer hit the back of the net, before Norwegian referee Espen Eskas ruled it out for offside after a video review. FIFA later explained that the chip in the "Trionda" World Cup ball had detected minimal contact by Igor Matanovic and that the goal had therefore been correctly disallowed.

The match had hinted early on at the drama still to come. As early as the 4th minute, Bruno Fernandes failed to convert a double chance against Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, who also cleared the rebound. Shortly afterwards, Renato Veiga headed over the bar from a Nuno Mendes corner (16th). Portugal controlled the first half without ever becoming truly dangerous, while Croatia gradually found stability. After the break, the game noticeably picked up pace.

The turning point came with a powerful run from Mateo Kovacic: his solo effort in the 75th minute first forced Portugal keeper Diogo Costa into a brilliant save onto the post, and shortly afterwards into another reaction over the bar. Costa was also alert against Matanovic (77th). In between, Perisic had coolly finished a cross from Josip Stanisic from close range to put Croatia ahead – seemingly the decisive moment.

Turning point after the break

But Portugal hit back. Rafael Leão thundered a long-range shot against the crossbar in the 58th minute, before the penalty awarded after a video review for a foul by Nikola Vlašić on Renato Veiga soon after set the turnaround in motion. Ronaldo stepped up, converted confidently, and cemented his status as the driving force of the evening. In the closing stages, both sides registered further dangerous headers through Veiga (87th) and Mario Pašalić (89th), which narrowly missed the target, before Ramos headed in from a pinpoint Leão cross in the 94th minute to make it 2-1.

The biggest controversy of the evening, however, came in the closing stages: not only was Gvardiol's apparent equalizer in stoppage time ruled out, but in the 80th minute the video assistant had already denied a goal by Petar Sucic for offside. Croatia's coach Zlatko Dalić was blunt afterwards: "Aber es killt die Emotionen, das ist nicht leicht, damit umzugehen." The coach added: "Man denkt, man hat getroffen und man freut sich – und dann kommt VAR," and drew a sobering conclusion: "Der Fußball sollte fair sein, aber mit VAR sind wir zu weit gegangen." He also complained that the referee had not been "in Bestform" and lamented the disallowed equalizer as well as the penalty award.

Portugal's coach Roberto Martínez viewed the decisions differently. For him, the situation was "eines der Beispiele, das zeigt, wie Technologie dem Sport hilft." FIFA was also convinced: "Die im Trionda-Ball integrierten IMU-Sensoren sind in der Lage, selbst geringfügige Berührungen zu erfassen, die den Zuschauern in der Übertragung als ‚Herzschlag-Grafik' angezeigt werden und den Schiedsrichtern ein bisher unerreichtes Maß an Daten zur Verfügung stellen, um schnelle und präzise Entscheidungen zu treffen."

Farewell to the World Cup stage

At the center of the emotional scenes after the final whistle was the meeting of two veteran stars: Ronaldo consoled Modric, who at 40 years of age presumably played his last World Cup match. "Ich habe mich von ihm verabschiedet. Es tut mir leid, dass sie so traurig zu Ende gegangen ist," said the five-time world player of the year, who once played with Modric at Real Madrid, adding: "Ich habe großen Respekt vor Modric für das, was er im Fußball geleistet hat. Er ist eine Fußball-Legende, ich hoffe, dass er weiterspielt." Modric himself did not want to talk about the future: "Es ist nicht der richtige Zeitpunkt," he said, deferring all further speculation: "Ihr werdet es bald erfahren." He also did not comment on his club future for the time being: "Ich habe mir überhaupt keine Gedanken gemacht um meine Zukunft, auch auf Club-Ebene um meine Zukunft."

Dalic showed compassion: "Es war wahrscheinlich seine letzte WM. Er ist dort oben und leuchtet auf uns herab," Ronaldo described the standing of his long-time companion. The veteran from Croatia, 2018 World Cup runner-up and 2022 third-place finisher, had experienced the tournament with mixed performances; only in the 2-1 win over Ghana in the final group match had he shone at the highest level again. At the next finals in 2030, he would be 44 years old.

Portugal, meanwhile, can keep dreaming of a first World Cup title. Ronaldo stressed: "Um einen Wettbewerb dieser Größenordnung zu gewinnen, müssen wir leiden können. Wir sind bereit." His strike partner Rafael Leão praised the veteran: "Während der Vorbereitung hat er immer alles gegeben, damit er in guter Verfassung ist. Wir wollen Cristiano diesen Pokal unbedingt überreichen – das ist das Einzige, was ihm noch fehlt." The star striker himself said with a view to the next task: "Wir wissen, dass Spanien zu den Favoriten auf den WM-Titel zählt. Wir sind bereit."

The Seleção had an emotional occasion even before the match: the win came on the first anniversary of the death of Diogo Jota, who died in a car accident in July 2025 at the age of just 29. "Wir haben für uns, Diogo und Portugal gewonnen," posted Ronaldo, who was named man of the match, on social media. Ramos, who scored the decisive goal after coming on as a substitute in the 64th minute, said: "Ich denke, die Mannschaft hat die Wechsel gut umgesetzt. Und am Ende hat der Trainer das sehr gut gemacht."

Switzerland books historic quarterfinal

Away from the Portugal vs. Croatia match, the World Cup night also produced further results. Switzerland reached its first World Cup quarterfinal since the 1954 home tournament with a 2-0 win over Algeria at the Toronto Stadium. Breel Embolo, formerly of Schalke 04, put the Swiss ahead as early as the 10th minute, with Dan Ndoye (46th) sealing the result after the break. Switzerland can thus continue to dream of a historic quarterfinal at the World Cup.

In parallel, Spain had qualified for the Round of 16 with a 3-0 win over Austria. The goals for the Southern Europeans were scored twice by Mikel Oyarzabal (36th/89th), with another player also finding the net. Austria, participating in a World Cup for the first time since 1998, was clearly outclassed and was eliminated. For Austria, it was the first World Cup appearance since 1998. Coach Ralf Rangnick was brutally honest about his team's performance: "Spanien eine Klasse für sich." David Alaba said after the defeat that he had "wirklich nur darauf meinen Fokus gelegt" and would "erstmal diesen bitteren Moment verarbeiten müssen".

A historic note was provided by Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simón: keeping another clean sheet in the knockout round, he broke a record. The Athletic Bilbao professional overtook Italy's Walter Zenga, who had gone 517 minutes without conceding between the opening match and the semifinal at the 1990 home World Cup. Simón's unbeaten run began at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when he last had to pick the ball out of his net in the 51st minute against Japan (1-2). At the tournament in the USA, Canada, and Mexico, he extended his mark further.

Spain comfortable – historic clean-sheet record for Simón

The match between Portugal and Croatia was largely convincing from a sporting standpoint. Portugal, with almost 70 percent possession, pinned the opposition back but then only rarely managed to look truly dangerous –