Ramos, Ronaldo score as Portugal
rallies to beat Croatia 2-1 and advance to round of 16
[July 03, 2026]
By LEXIE LINDERMAN
TORONTO (AP) — At 41, Cristiano Ronaldo will get another match in a
Portugal uniform, thanks to a penalty he scored, a stoppage time
header by Goncalo Ramos, and a VAR ruling the Croatia team still
doesn't understand.
Ramos headed in the winner as Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in a wild
finish that also included a Croatian goal disallowed for offside
just before the final whistle in a World Cup round of 32 match on
Thursday night.
The game featured a matchup of 40-somethings — Ronaldo, in his sixth
World Cup, and Croatia's Luka Modrić, making his fifth bid for a
tournament title.
Ronaldo tied things up in the 68th minute on a penalty kick that
gave the megastar his first knockout stage goal at the World Cup
before being subbed out in the 81st minute.
“I never felt any of that (fear),” he said. “Yes, nervous. But as
always, you have to be very positive for things to go well.”
Still, it was Ramos who gave Portugal the victory and a berth in the
round of 16.
“I love that type of moment, I love that type of games,” he said. “I
want to play every game like that.”
Portugal moves on to face Spain on Monday.
“First half we dominated the game. In second half after the goal we
get a little bit panic, but this is football,” Ronaldo said. “After
the penalty, I think it was a little bit better for us. We created a
few chances and I think at the end of the day we deserved to win the
match.”
In a postgame interview with Fox, Ronaldo proudly turned around to
show that he was wearing a Diogo Jota jersey and his No. 21, one
year after his teammate died in a car crash. “We knew this before
the game. It was a so special moment. We speak today to our group,
the coincidence of life. It’s unbelievable.”
Things got weird after Ramos scored. With Portugal and its fans
still enthralled with his goal, Croatia thought it had tied things
up 2-2 in the very last moments. But after a 2 1/2-minute delay,
Mario Pasalic was called offside as VAR ruled no goal. Croatia fans
threw bottles on the field and whistled in protest.
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Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (7) celebrates after scoring their
opening goal during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between
Portugal and Croatia in Toronto, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP
Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Croatia midfielder Petar Sucic said, “the referee
said he didn’t see (anyone) touch the ball, he said that he had a
sensor in that ball,” that caused the offside ruling. “For me, it's
a regular goal.”
Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said it was, indeed, the chip in the
ball that triggered the decision.
“I need to tell them (Croatia fans) the message is very clear: The
balls now have a chip, and it’s very clear that’s why the VAR
intervened," he said. "It's not a subjective opinion."
Croatia opened the scoring in the 53rd minute when Ivan Perisic
scored off a cross from Josip Sanisic.
Ronaldo, booed loudly by Croatia fans every time he touched the
ball, got his chance from the spot after Nikola Vlasic was called
for a holding foul inside the box. Portugal’s megastar hitched his
step and converted down the middle as the goalkeeper went to his
right.
Modrić led Croatia to second- and third-place finishes in 2018 and
2022, and the match carried the weight of the two aging stars each
trying to realize the dream of winning the World Cup. Modrić is 40.
The men, who were teammates at Real Madrid, shared a few smiles and
an embrace ahead of the coin toss before the match. The two met on
the pitch after the match, hugged and exchanged a few words.
“I played with Luka so many years,” Ronaldo said. "We’re nearly the
same age. I think he’s a legend of football. He’s still a legend of
football.”
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić said this was “probably” Modrić's last
World Cup, but added, "only God knows what will happen in the next
four years. We’ll see. We’ll talk about it in Croatia.”
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Lexie Linderman is a student in John Curley Center for Sports
Journalism at Penn State.
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