Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup story ends: Spain edges past Portugal thanks to Mikel Merino

With a lone goal by Mikel Merino in the 90th minute, following a great pass from Ferrán Torres, Spain eliminated a lackluster Portugal in a somewhat lackluster match marked by what may well be Cristiano Ronaldo’s final World Cup appearance. At 41 years old, the Portuguese star played in his sixth World Cup and bid farewell by scoring three goals in five matches—numbers he himself described as “not bad at all” during an entertaining and charismatic press conference the day before, where he announced that this would be his final World Cup appearance with Portugal. At the end of the match, after Bernardo Silva came close to sending the game into extra time, the legendary player walked off the field in tears, applauded by the entire stadium.

This was quite the opposite of what had been discussed in the pre-match analysis, which recalled the last match between the two teams in the Nations League, when Portugal defeated Spain on penalty kicks in a thrilling match, this 1-0 Spain victory over Portugal was marked by standout performances from players like Lamine Yamal and the saves by Diogo Costa, the Portuguese goalkeeper—perhaps the only player on his team who deserved more.

Portugal was a shadow of its offensive self, as it has been throughout the World Cup, managing only one shot off the post in the first half and one chance late in the game to try to tie it: a header by Bernardo Silva that sailed over the crossbar.

Spain, on the other hand, dominated the action. Rodri became the linchpin in the middle and managed to neutralize the Portuguese midfield trio (Bruno, Neves, and Vitinha), keeping Yamal, Oyarzabal, Olmo, and Baena constantly in favorable positions. However, the Spanish midfielders and forwards weren’t quite on their game throughout the match, squandering several good chances to create danger against Costa, who left the game with a few impressive saves against Yamal and Baena.

As regulation time was running out and the game headed into extra time, Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente sent in Merino, the attacking Arsenal midfielder, in an attempt to give his team more depth and presence in the box. Just as happened at the Euro, where Merino scored important goals for his national team, history repeated itself with a run that was like a dagger to the Portuguese back line.

Ferrán Torres, heavily criticized for his performance in the World Cup, turned and spotted Merino, threading a tremendous pass that his teammate ultimately finished beautifully with a crisp shot against Costa’s right post. That’s how Spain, which has gone from strength to strength in the World Cup, advanced to the quarterfinals, where it will face the winner of the match between Belgium and the United States—a game fraught with controversy due to President Donald Trump’s call to Gianni Infantino, head of FIFA, and the lifted suspension of U.S. forward Balogun, one of the stars of the World Cup, who was ejected for a hard—though unintentional—stomp on a Bosnian defender.

Trump’s intervention has sparked significant controversy. The U.S. argues that the red card was unfair and, therefore, the suspension should not be enforced. In contrast, most teams, including Belgium, maintain that it is an abuse of power by the White House.

With this loss, Cristiano Ronaldo ends his World Cup run after six tournaments: Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014, Russia 2018, Qatar 2022, and this 2026 edition, more than any other soccer player in the tournament’s history. In total, he played in 27 matches and scored 11 goals, a total that makes him Portugal’s all-time leading World Cup scorer, ahead of Eusébio. The Portuguese star is also the first and only player to have scored in six different World Cup tournaments—a record that caps an extensive World Cup career but one that, once again, falls short of the title he most longed to win.