Merino grabs late winner for Spain as Ronaldo and Portugal exit World Cup

Key stats

- Spain have kept a clean sheet in five of their five games, more than any other in the FIFA World Cup and a run of 701 minutes without conceding a goal.

- There have now been 10 last-minute winners (90th or 120th) at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the outright most in a single edition of the competition.

- Cristiano Ronaldo is the second man to start 25 World Cup matches, along with Lionel Messi (27).

Highlights

Analysis

A cagey affair between the two sides saw Spain just sneak it at the death to reach the quarter-finals.

Match report

Thanks to his four tournament goals in the opening four games, Mikel Oyarzabal was confident to try his luck from 25 yards amid an untidy start, but Diogo Costa’s save was ultimately a simple one.

The striker still should have added to his tally shortly after when played through by Dani Olmo, only to drag his effort wide.

Looking to go level with Oyarzabal in the scoring charts was Cristiano Ronaldo, and his first chance came 12 minutes in, but the tight angle allowed Spain shot-stopper Unai Simón to make a comfortable save. 

At the other end, Costa survived a tougher test as he thwarted Lamine Yamal before getting to his feet and brushing away the rebound from Álex Baena.

The first-half hydration break stunted some of the early tempo but, around the half-hour mark, Pau Cubarsí almost connected with a Pedri ball into the box which Costa still had to block with his foot.

Portugal survived further pressure until finally breaking forward in the 37th minute when a deep cross was knocked back into the danger area by João Félix to Ronaldo, whose hook goalwards was caught by Simón.

In the end, the Seleção das Quinas were unlucky not to be ahead at HT after a short corner was powered goalwards by Nuno Mendes, with only a deflection off Pedro Porro diverting it onto the crossbar.

Neither side managed a shot on target in the opening quarter-hour of the second period, but Pedri eventually had an effort deflected over after a nice lay-off from Olmo.

Baena then saw a slow shot easily kept out by Costa, who was called into action again to tip a Yamal free-kick over the bar shortly after the second hydration break. 

A rare venture forward for the Portuguese - without the injured Mendes after he was forced off due to injury - saw a Vitinha shot deflect to Bruno Fernandes, who subsequently fired it into the side netting.

Nevertheless, Roberto Martínez’s side were soon under pressure again when Rúben Dias did well to block an Olmo shot destined for the bottom corner.

The match seemed destined to be heading for ET, only for Spain to finally unlock the Portugal defence in the first minute of added time. Substitute Mikel Merino timed his run to perfection to latch onto Ferran Torres’ through ball and slotted it coolly past Costa.

This is the second time Spain have beaten Portugal 1-0 in a WC round of 16 tie, also doing so on their way to the final in 2010, and after Bernardo Silva headed over in the final seconds, Ronaldo’s WC career surely ends with no more than one semi-final appearance to show for it.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Rodri (Spain)

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