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Madness! After a wild finish, Spain learn their last-16 rivals
The 2026 FIFA World Cup delivered yet another game with an INSANE finish.
Coming from behind with a goal in the 93rd minute and a decisive VAR call in the 115th, Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 this Thursday (2).
BMO Field, in Toronto, hosted a Cristiano Ronaldo versus Modric showdown.
In which one of them would say goodbye to the World Cup.
Fate decided it would be the Croatian midfielder.
CR7 was in the spotlight after having a goal disallowed by a "detail," ending his knockout-stage drought and then being substituted in the 80th minute.
Portugal will face Spain in the round of 16.
Watch the highlights soon.
Portugal dominate, but...
In the first half, Roberto Martínez's side controlled the action.
They had more possession and attacking play. But only one shot on target.
Rafael Leão — a surprise inclusion in the starting XI — tried to make the difference.
Croatia, meanwhile, had no answers to create any real danger.
And left much to be desired whenever they had the ball.
Croatia attack and CR7 takes center stage
After an uneventful first half, Croatia came back better for the second half.
And scored through Perisic (53'). It was the veteran's 39th goal for Croatia. Four straight World Cups scoring at least once.
Until then unable to shine, CR7 did score in the 61st minute, but he was offside.
Then VAR awarded a penalty for a foul on Renato Veiga after a corner.
And Cristiano Ronaldo — smashing it straight down the middle — ended his drought.
He reached three goals in this World Cup. Eleven in total.
He has now celebrated 146 times for his national team. And reached the 976th goal of his career.
CR7 ended up being substituted in the 80th minute after Croatia took control of the game through the substitutions made before the equalizer.
They only failed to score again right after conceding thanks to Diogo Costa.
Roberto Martínez: never criticized
CR7's exit came as a surprise. The idea was to strengthen the midfield with Ruben Neves.
Gonçalo Ramos became the only center forward in the Croatian box.
And he delivered.
Rafael Leão whipped in a cross "with his hand" for the No. 9 to score his fourth World Cup goal in the 93rd minute.
OH MY GOOD LORD
Portugal were already waiting for the final whistle.
Stoppage time had already been exceeded.
Then Pasalic's ball found Gvardiol in the box.
And he scored in the 113th minute.
But the referee was called to the VAR monitor.
And the technology (the ball sensor) showed a touch from Matanovic that had left Pasalic offside.
The now highly anticipated Spain versus Portugal will be next Monday (6), in Dallas.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in here.
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