Portugal wins dramatic round-of-16 duel against Croatia and faces Spain

From then on, both sides pushed for the decisive goal. While Croatia struck the crossbar and post through Mateo Kovačić in the 75th minute and Mario Pašalić narrowly missed with a header in the 88th, Portugal failed to convert at the other end through Renato Veiga's header (16th), Rafael Leão's long-range shot against the bar (58th) and Ronaldo's header (87th). Several goals were also disallowed following VAR interventions for offside, including Ronaldo's would-be 2:1 in the 71st minute.

As the match had already moved into stoppage time, Portugal coach Roberto Martínez brought on Gonçalo Ramos in the 64th minute, and the substitute delivered the decisive moment in the 90th+4. After a cross from Rafael Leão, the striker headed in the 2:1 winner and became the matchwinner. „Wenn man noch ein Tor braucht, dann ruft man mich, dann komme ich, dann kommt Gonçalo Ramos und macht einen rein“, the goalscorer said afterwards.

Gonçalo Ramos as super-sub

The closing minutes had more drama in store: in the 13th minute of stoppage time, Joško Gvardiol scored what looked like Croatia's equalizer, but the goal was disallowed following a video review for offside. „Der Treffer wurde aber vom Schiedsrichter wegen Abseits zu Recht aberkannt“, the match report noted.

In total, four goals were ruled out by video review in the match – alongside Ronaldo's 2:1 (71st) and Gvardiol's late equalizer (90th+13), a header by Igor Matanović and a goal by Petar Sučić (80th) that would have briefly put Croatia ahead again. Portugal had earlier recorded around 70 percent possession in the first half and held a 9:3 edge in shots.

The match took place in the shadow of the first anniversary of the death of Diogo Jota. Before kickoff, a photo of the forward, who died in a car accident last year, was shown on the stadium screens during the Portuguese national anthem. „Diogo ist unser Licht. Er wollte die Weltmeisterschaft gewinnen. Und das ist nun gewissermaßen zu einer Verpflichtung und zu einem Vorbild für uns geworden“, said national team coach Roberto Martínez. Ronaldo also remembered his former teammate: „Er ist dort oben und leuchtet auf uns herab.“

Remembering Diogo Jota

In terms of personnel, Martínez changed his starting lineup in two positions compared to the last group-stage match: João Neves replaced Ruben Neves in midfield, and Rafael Leão started ahead of João Félix on the left wing. Croatia's coach Zlatko Dalić fielded the same eleven that had beaten Ghana 2:1. During the first half, Croatian fans booed Cristiano Ronaldo on virtually every touch of the ball.

With the victory, a duel with Spain now awaits in the round of the last 16 – Spain having previously qualified by beating Austria 3:0. The Iberians' goals were scored by Mikel Oyarzabal (36th and 89th) and Pedro Porro (66th). Spain's goalkeeper Unai Simón once again kept a clean sheet and set a new World Cup record of 519 minutes without conceding, surpassing the previous mark of Italy's Walter Zenga at 517 minutes from 1990.

Spain awaits: a record and an Iberian duel

The clash between Portugal and Spain takes place next Monday at 21:00 CEST in Dallas and will be broadcast live on ZDF. It is also a reunion of two Iberian rivals whose head-to-head record in recent competitive matches is evenly balanced. Portugal last won the European Championship in 2016 and has never advanced past third place at a World Cup, achieved in 1966.

For Luka Modrić, who exited with Croatia, this was possibly his last World Cup appearance. The 40-year-old midfielder had announced before the tournament that this would be his final World Cup. Together with Cristiano Ronaldo, also 41, who made his 26th World Cup appearance – placing him second on the all-time list behind Lionel Messi (29) – both will be unable to feature at the 2030 World Cup.

Modrić's possible farewell

From a Croatian perspective, the tournament was disappointing. The squad of 2018, which had reached the final in Russia, was eliminated in the first knockout round. Perišić, at 37 the oldest goalscorer in the match, could not prevent Croatia from exiting at this stage.

In the day's parallel match, Belgium beat Senegal 3:2 in Seattle after trailing 0:2. Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans equalized late before Belgium completed the win in extra time. ZDF's daily broadcast had begun at 5:00 with the match between Switzerland and Algeria.

The Portuguese team now travels to Dallas for Monday evening's Iberian showdown with Spain. For Ronaldo, who was named "Man of the Match," at 41 he is also the oldest goalscorer in a World Cup knockout match – a record previously held by his compatriot Pepe at 39 at the 2022 World Cup.

Round-of-16 outlook in Dallas

Norwegian referee Espen Eskas blew the final whistle after almost 20 minutes of stoppage time. Overall, the official had overseen a highly entertaining match with numerous controversial moments that had to be defused by the video assistant.

Looking ahead to the next round, Portugal and Spain face not only sporting but also emotional challenges. Both teams lost significant players before the tournament in the shape of Diogo Jota, while David Alaba's contract at Real Madrid has expired. „Ich werde erstmal diesen bitteren Moment verarbeiten müssen. Das wird sicherlich ein paar Tage dauern und brauchen. Und dann mache ich mir natürlich Gedanken“, Alaba had said after Austria's elimination.

Portugal goes into the duel with Spain as the 2016 European champion and can rely on solid defensive performances around record-breaking goalkeeper Simón. The group-stage records of both teams were solid: both finished second in their groups.

There is also a reunion at club level: Ronaldo and Modrić once played together for six years at Real Madrid. In Toronto, they likely faced each other for the last time in a competitive match on the international stage.

By reaching the round of the last 16, Portugal has met its minimum objective and can now hope for a more harmonious tournament run. Coach Martínez stressed after the match that his team had „Charakter gezeigt" and „an einem schweren Abend die richtige Antwort gefunden" habe.

The next round takes place on Monday evening (21:00 CEST) at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas. Spain and Portugal will then determine which of the two advances to the quarterfinals and moves a step closer to the dream of a first World Cup title.