Portugal secured their place in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup, defeating Luka Modric’s Croatia 2-1 in Toronto, thanks to a goal from Gonzalo Ramos in stoppage time.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s team will now face Spain on Monday, in one of the most attractive pairings of the knockout phase.
The match confirmed the expectations of a great European derby, with both teams fighting hard in the central area. Portugal had possession and control of the area in the first half, but had difficulty breaking down the organized defensive operation of the Croatians. For their part, the “Hrvatska” remained threatening on counterattacks and in static phases.
Despite Bruno Fernandes’ good moments and Luka Modric’s imposing presence in midfield, the first half ended scoreless.
The game changed dramatically in the second half. Croatia opened the scoring with Ivan Perisic in the 53rd minute, taking advantage of a rare defensive lapse by the Portuguese, while the rest of the game was marked by VAR interventions and disallowed goals from both sides.
Portugal’s response came in the 68th minute when Cristiano Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot, equalizing in a period of intense pressure and constant momentum swings. In the same period, Kovacic hit the post, while several Croatian attacks were stopped for offside.
It looked like the match would go to extra time, but Portugal found the winning goal in the fourth minute of injury time. Rafael Leao crossed from the left and Gonzalo Ramos headed the ball past Dominik Livakovic to make it 2-1.
Croatia believed they had equalized again in the final seconds, but VAR disallowed the goal, allowing Portugal to celebrate a big win in the round of 16 of the World Cup.
REFEREE : Espen Eskas (Norway)
YELLOWS: Ruben Diaz (16′) – Modric (59′), Perisic (90+8′)
The lineups:
PORTUGAL (Roberto Martinez): Diogo Costa, Cancelo (62′ Gonzalo Ramos), Ruben Dias, Renato Veiga, Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves, Vitinha (64′ Bernardo Silva), Pedro Neto (62′ Conceicao), Bruno Fernandes (62′ N. Semedo), Rafael Leao, Cristiano Ronaldo (81′ Ruben Neves).
CROATIA (Zlatko Dalic) : Livakovic, Stanisic, Sutalo, Pongracic, Perisic, Modric, Kovacic (90+8′ Kramaric), Susic, Vlasic (90+1′ Guardiol), Baturina (67′ Pasalic), Budimir (46′ Matanovic)