Cristiano Ronaldo helped Portugal come from behind and edge Croatia, while Spain and Switzerland won comfortably in the Round of 32 of the FIFA World Cup 2026.
A Spanish sensation and the Portuguese GOAT set up one of the most mouth-watering matches this century. Lamine Yamal’s spellbinding sorcery spurred Spain to a 3-0 win over Austria, while Cristiano Ronaldo scored as Portugal rallied to edge Croatia at the FIFA World Cup 2026™. The Seleção das Quinas and La Roja will now collide in the Round of 16. Embolden and underline it in your calendars. The Nati also finished the day in the second knockout round. Switzerland will now await the Colombia-Ghana winners.
Spain 3-0 Austria
Don’t sleep on La Roja. Or the man Luis de la Fuente lauded “a great among greats”. Mikel Oyarzabal took his tally to four in North America to pull close to Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland in the adidas Golden Boot race. Spain kept their fourth shutout in succession to sail to Dallas. Another major plus was Lamine Yamal, who glittered during 85 minutes on the grass.
Portugal 2-1 Croatia
Only one 40-something could emerge smiling. Ultimately, it was Cristiano Ronaldo who overcame his long-time Real Madrid team-mate Luka Modric. Croatia struck first though another veteran, Ivan Perisic, and then had a goal disallowed. So, too, did Ronaldo before he stroked home a spot-kick to equalise. In injury time, substitute striker Goncalo Ramos nicked Roberto Martinez’s men ahead, before the faintest of touches dramatically denied Josko Gvardiol an 11th-hour leveller. What a game of football.
Switzerland 2-0 Algeria
An 88-year drought was demolished. The Swiss secured their first knockout success since 1938, and it was fully deserved. An assist for the ages from 20-year-old starlet Johan Manzambi enabled Breel Embolo to dent the deadlock, and Dan Ndoye sealed the deal for Murat Yakin’s men.
Stats
- Unai Simon equalled Walter Zenga’s record for five consecutive World Cup clean sheets. The Spaniard also eclipsed the Italian’s landmark for the most minutes without conceding in the competition: 519 to 517.
- Cristiano Ronaldo, in his ninth appearance in the knockout phase of the World Cup, finally scored in it. The 41-year-old duly became the oldest marksman in knockout history, outranking his good friend and former team-mate Pepe, who was 39.
- Johan Manzambi, 20, became the youngest player to register five goal involvements in a World Cup since 17-year-old Pele for Brazil at Sweden 1958.
