Merino leads Spain to eliminate Portugal and Ronaldo from World Cup

Spain secured a 1-0 triumph against Portugal as substitute Mikel Merino scored the winning goal only minutes after entering the pitch and sent his team to the ¼ finals of the World Cup, while Cristiano Ronaldo played his last World Cup match and will finish his career without winning the biggest tournament.

The match started better for Spain as they had huge chances to score early, but they missed them and the 1^st half finished without goals as Portugal was also very close to score, but Nuno Mendes deflected shot struck the post.

In the 2^nd half, nothing really important happened until the extra time when Ferran Torres found Mikel Merino inside the box, and the Gunners player, who entered the pitch only 6 minutes earlier, scored the only goal in the match and secured its country’s place in the next phase of the tournament.

Cristiano Ronaldo had shots on target during the 1^st half, but was almost invisible in the 2^nd as that was most likely the last World Cup game in the Portuguese forward’s legendary career as he revealed it himself during press conference.

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SPAIN STUNS PORTUGAL LATE AND ADVANCES TO THE WORLD CUP QUARTERFINALS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2010 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/NMDumH3inV

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) July 6, 2026