Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric looked for each other before anyone else in the midfield. They hugged, exchanged pennants and chose terrain like two captains who have shared an era, six seasons at Real Madrid and a mutual admiration that survived the distance.
In the Canadian city of Toronto, the duel of the round of 32 of the World Cup 2026Portugal-Croatia, was not just a tie: it was a sentimental border.
With Ronaldo 41 years old and Modric 40 years old, two of the four footballers who have surpassed 200 caps, the match had the air of a farewell. For one of them, almost certainly, it was the last match of a World Cup.
The Portuguese team prevented it from happening for Cristiano, who scored again in his sixth World Cup tournament, and condemned Modric to a cruel elimination, on a night in which Croatia almost went to extra time and was left without the match against Spain, which defeated Austria 3-0.
The decisive match began with images of Diogo Jota on the Toronto Stadium screens and with Modric serving from the center. Croatia warned first, at 3 minutes, with a shot by Ante Budimir that Diogo Costa caught.
Portugal responded immediately on the left, where Rafael Leao was the main source of imbalance. Bruno Fernandes forced goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic to intervene and Vitinha saw his shot blocked.
Coach Roberto Martínez had entrusted Bruno with monitoring Modric. Portugal pushed more, had the ball and accumulated arrivals. Cristiano tried a free kick that crashed into the barrier, Renato Veiga headed high from a corner and Nuno Mendes found space on the left. Croatia, more cautious, agreed to defend in their own half and look for long balls for Budimir.
The first half was dominated by Portugal: 69% possession, 9 shots, 6 corners and several dangerous situations, although without success. Croatia hardly worried, but it didn’t break down either.
The second half changed the game. Croatian coach Zlatko Dalic brought in Igor Matanovic for Budimir and Croatia gained presence up front. Kovacic came close to scoring in the 47th minute, but Diogo Costa responded.
In the 53rd minute it was 0-1: a ball from the right crossed the area, the Portuguese defense failed to clear it and Ivan Perisic, with his left foot, beat the goalkeeper low.
Croatia even scored again, but Matanovic’s goal was disallowed for offside. Portugal responded with a shot from Leao hitting the crossbar and with a goal from Cristiano also disallowed for offside after a VAR review. It was the first in a long series of referee shocks on an increasingly tense night.
The tie came in the 67th minute, after an action reviewed by the VAR in the Croatian area. Cristiano took the ball, placed it and scored the penalty with a shot that was more precise than powerful, at mid-height, to the right of Livakovic.
The stadium exploded… Siuuuu! … The Portuguese captain, who shortly before had seen his goal disallowed by centimeters, once again supported his team.
Croatia did not give up. Kovacic hit the post in the 75th minute and Matanovic forced Diogo Costa into another decisive save. Petar Sucic scored in the 80th, but the offside frustrated Dalic again.
Then, Cristiano was replaced in the 81st minute by Ruben Neves and Portugal faced the final stretch without their captain. A controversial decision by coach Martínez.
And when extra time seemed inevitable, attacker Gonçalo Ramos appeared. In the 93rd minute, Rafael Leao put a ball into the area and the Portuguese forward gained the jump to head to Livakovic’s right. Great goal.
Portugal celebrated the 2-1 score, while a fan jumped onto the field and was detained near the Portuguese bench.
But there was still one last scene of chaos. In the 90+12 minute, Josko Gvardiol sent the ball into the back of the net with a tight finish that unleashed Croatian delirium and Portuguese fear.
Croatia celebrated 2-2, while Portugal’s players claimed a hand in the action. The VAR initially validated the goal, but referee Espen Eskas later went to review the play on the screen and ended up annulling it due to an advanced position by a Croatian player.
It was immediately revealed that this sanction was determined by the technological sensor on the ball, although in the repeated images of the aforementioned play the overtaking of the Croatian player was not detected with certainty.
The referee’s decision ignited the Croatian fans concentrated in the southern back, next to the Portuguese goal.
Dozens of water bottles fell on the grass and interrupted the resumption of play, in a tense closing that added drama to an already painful elimination.
Thus, the match ended between Croatian protests, Portuguese relief and a period image: Ronaldo alive at the World Cup and Modric farewell.
This is how they aligned
– Portugal (2): Diogo Costa; João Cancelo (Gonçalo Ramos, m.63), Rúben Dias, Renato Veiga, Nuno Mendes; João Neves, Vitinha (Bernardo Silva, d.62); Pedro Neto (Francisco Conceição, m.62), Bruno Fernandes (Nélson Semedo, m.63), Rafael Leao; and Cristiano Ronaldo (Ruben Neves, m.81)
– DT: Jorge Martínez (Spanish)
– Croatia (1): Dominik Livakovic; Josip Stanisic, Josip Sutalo, Marin Pongracic, Ivan Perisic; Mateo Kovacic (Andrej Kramaric, m.90+6), Luka Modric; Nikola Vlasic (Josko Gvardiol, m.90+1), Martin Baturina (Mario Pasalic, m.68), Petar Sucic; and Ante Budimir (Igor Matanovic, m.46)
– DT: Zlatko Dalic
– Goals: 0-1, m.53: Ivan Perisic. 1-1, m.67: Cristiano Ronaldo, penalty. 2-1, m.90+3: Gonçalo Ramos
– Referee: Espen Eskas (Norway). He showed a yellow card to Rúben Dias, from Portugal; and Modric and Perisic, from Croatia
– Incidents: Round of 32 match of the 2026 World Cup played at the Toronto Stadium in front of 43,036 spectators.
(With a report from Julio César Rivas, from EFE)
