Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup is over. Spain made sure of it in the cruelest way possible - as Mikel Merino, a substitue in the 85th minute came on and scored a game-winner in the 90th minute.
For 89 minutes, Dallas Stadium watched two of Europe’s best teams play exactly the kind of tight, tactical knockout match everyone expected. Spain controlled the bulk of the first half chances with Mikel Oyarzabal, Lamine Yamal and Alex Baena all forcing early saves from Diogo Costa. Ronaldo had moments of his own, forcing Unai Simon to make a couple of big stops.
But like everyone else who has faced Spain thus far in this tournament, Portugal was unable to break the Spanish defense.
It appeared the second half would yield more soccer with extra time, but Merino’s heroics late proved to be the difference-maker. After a quick restart, Spain’s Ferran Torres slipped a ball behind the Portugese defense and the Arsenal midfielder did the rest.
Spain advance to the quarterfinals having still not conceded a single goal in this tournament.
Key Moments
8’ - HUGE MISS. Oyarzabal gets free behind the Portuguese defense with no offside flag. But his shot in the penalty area goes just wide of the goal.
12’ - Ronaldo’s turn! Bruno picks off a turnover in the midfield and quickly plays Ronaldo through inside the penalty area. After a couple of moves, Ronaldo takes a chance on goal, but it gets saved.
16’ - Double chance for Spain. First it was Yamel getting free inside the penalty area. His shot gets stopped by Garcia, but a second attempt by Alex Baena gets saved for a corner kick.
38’ - Huge save by Simon! Neto finds Joao Felix at the back post, who then heads the ball back to Ronaldo at the top of the six yard box, but his attempt gets snuffed out by a diving save by Simon.
73’ - Big stop by Costa! After a rather dull opening portion of the second half, Yamal gets a free kick from a tough angle and really tests Costa with his attempt. Costa pushed it over the bar.
90’ - GOAL! Spain finally make a breakthrough before stoppage-time. A quick restart leads to Mikel Merino free inside the penalty box and the substitute puts away the game’s first goal.
SPAIN TAKES THE LEAD ON THE STROKE OF STOPPAGE TIME 🇪🇸
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 6, 2026
Mikel Merino is the hero! pic.twitter.com/6pVqi1itwF
90+6’ - Portugal nearly gets a tying goal from Bernardo Silva. But his header goes just over the bar.
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Instant Reaction
Boy, did this one take a long time to get going. There were moments in the first half for both sides, but the second half really struggled to produce anything of note for both sides.
In the end, it was Spain catching Portugal napping at the right time and are advancing because of it. You could say Spain was the better team and deserved the win, but neither truly impressed.
Man of the Match
Give it to the man who won it for Spain, Merino.
What’s next for both squads
Spain will take on the winner of the US and Belgium game in LA on July 10.
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