Portugal booked their place in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 after staging a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory over Croatia in a pulsating Round of 32 contest at Toronto Stadium on Thursday. Goncalo Ramos emerged as the hero with a stoppage-time winner after Cristiano Ronaldo cancelled out Ivan Perisic's opener with the first knockout-stage goal of his World Cup career. Roberto Martinez's side will now face Spain in Dallas on July 6.
Portugal dominated possession throughout a cagey first half but struggled to break down Croatia's compact defensive shape, with Zlatko Dalic's side sitting deep and frustrating Ronaldo and company. Despite controlling the tempo, Portugal failed to create a clear-cut opportunity before the interval as the teams went into the break locked at 0-0.
Croatia struck first in the 53rd minute through Ivan Perisic. Martin Baturina and Luka Sucic combined to release Josip Stanisic down the right, and the full-back delivered a cross to the far post where Perisic controlled the ball before drilling a left-footed finish across Diogo Costa into the bottom corner.
With his side trailing, Martinez responded aggressively by making a quadruple substitution on the hour mark, introducing fresh attacking options including Rafael Leao and eventual match-winner Goncalo Ramos.
Portugal's equaliser arrived moments after the changes following a lengthy VAR review of a corner-kick incident. Renato Veiga was ruled to have been dragged down inside the penalty area while challenging for the delivery, prompting the referee to overturn his original decision after nearly three minutes and award Portugal a penalty.
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Ronaldo calmly converted from the spot in the 68th minute to level the scores, ending a World Cup knockout scoring drought that had stretched across eight previous appearances.
Croatia thought they had regained the lead in the 80th minute when Petar Sucic found the net, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside. Moments later, Martinez withdrew Ronaldo in the 81st minute, replacing the Portugal captain with Ruben Neves in a tactical reshuffle as the contest opened up.
Croatia continued to threaten, but goalkeeper Diogo Costa produced a pair of outstanding saves late in the match to keep Portugal level. Just as extra time appeared inevitable, Portugal struck the decisive blow in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Rafael Leao burst down the left wing and delivered an inviting cross for Goncalo Ramos, who guided a deft header beyond Dominik Livakovic to complete Portugal's comeback.
There was still late drama as Josko Gvardiol appeared to rescue Croatia with virtually the final kick of the game. However, after another lengthy VAR review, the goal was ruled out for an offside in the build-up, confirming Portugal's place in the Round of 16 after a marathon contest that stretched well beyond the 100-minute mark.
Ronaldo's landmark strike also made him the oldest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup knockout-stage history at 41 years and 147 days, while the match marked the first World Cup fixture to feature two outfield players aged over 40, with the Portugal captain lining up against Croatia skipper Luka Modric.
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