Portugal needed a stoppage-time goal to escape a bad-tempered round of 32 tie with Croatia on Thursday night in Toronto, winning 2-1 in a match remembered as much for a contentious VAR review as for Cristiano Ronaldo’s first knockout-stage goal at a World Cup.
Ivan Perišić put Croatia ahead in the 53rd minute, finishing from close range after Portugal’s back line failed to clear a corner. Ronaldo leveled from the penalty spot in the 68th, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way for the first knockout goal of his long World Cup career. The winner came deep into stoppage time, when Gonçalo Ramos headed in a cross from Rafael Leão to send Portugal through.
Croatia thought they had an equalizer of their own moments later, but a VAR review disallowed the goal for offside in the buildup, ending the match on the spot. Portugal manager Roberto Martínez defended the video review, saying there was no doubt about the call, while Croatia’s Zlatko Dalić was blunter about the technology that decided the game. “VAR kills emotions, it kills everything within you,” he said. “We have gone too far with VAR.”
The result likely closes the book on Luka Modrić’s international career. The 40-year-old midfielder has anchored Croatia’s midfield through three World Cup semifinals and a final, and Ronaldo made a point of seeking him out afterward. “I just said to him, ‘Luka, congratulations for everything. I love to see you again. I wish you all the best for the next years of your career,'” Ronaldo said. “It was nice to play against him once again.” Ronaldo, for his part, brushed aside questions about his own future. “The future isn’t important right now,” he said. “For now, it’s about enjoying today.”
A lopsided rivalry
Thursday’s win extended a series that has rarely been competitive. Portugal have now won 7 of their 10 all-time meetings with Croatia, with Croatia managing just a single victory, a June 2024 friendly, and two draws. The two sides first met at Euro 1996, a 3-0 Portugal win, and Thursday’s result kept that pattern intact even with the World Cup’s biggest stakes attached.
Portugal move on to face Spain in the round of 16 on July 6 in Arlington, after both nations advanced through contrasting routes in the round of 32. Full match details and the tournament’s official bracket are available through FIFA’s World Cup 2026 site. For more on how the tournament has unfolded so far, our soccer coverage is updated throughout the knockout rounds.
