Spain beat Portugal, as Ronaldo’s World Cup career endsplayPortuguese heartbreak in Lisbon as Merino scores winner for Spain (0:26)ESPN News ServicesMultiple AuthorsJul 6, 2026, 05:07 PM ET
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Mikel Merino scored a late goal to send Spain past Portugal in the round of 16 on Monday and into a FIFA World Cup quarterfinal for the first time since they won it all in 2010.
With the game looking like it was headed to extra time in Arlington, Texas, a Ferran Torres through-ball sprang Merino in the penalty area and he slotted home past Diogo Costa to give Spain the breakthrough goal in the 1-0 win over their neighbors on the Iberian Peninsula.
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Merino had just been knocked down, and a foul was called. While a Portugal player argued, Merino played the ball back in, ran toward the goal and put a shot past goalkeeper Costa after taking a pass from Torres.
There were some nervy moments down the stretch for Luis de la Fuente’s side as Portugal twice came close to levelling the score, but Spain clung to their lead in a game that could be the last for Cristiano Ronaldo in a Portugal shirt.
Spain now await the winner of Monday’s game between Belgium and the United States to see who they will face in the quarterfinals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Ronaldo, who was visibly upset after the final whistle blew, was trying to get Portugal to the quarterfinals in a second consecutive tournament for the first time after reaching that stage at the 2024 European Championship.
Instead, the legendary striker’s career on soccer’s biggest stage is over for the all-time leader in international goals, who stated ahead of the Spain game that 2026 would be his last World Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo reacts at the end of Portugal’s loss to Spain the round of 16 at the World Cup. Getty ImagesIt was the sixth consecutive clean sheet for Spain at the World Cup — a tournament record — and goalkeeper Unai Simón extended his record shutout streak to 609 minutes.
Spain broke a tie with Italy (1990) and Switzerland (2006-10) for the most consecutive World Cup matches not allowing a goal. Spain’s streak began with a 0-0 draw in the round of 16 in 2022, when Morocco advanced after a penalty shootout.
There was also a surprising scoreless draw against Cape Verde to open group play in this tournament followed by four consecutive shutout victories to advance to the quarterfinals.
Simón surpassed the previous record of 517 consecutive scoreless minutes during a 3-0 blanking of Austria to open the knockout round Thursday. Famed Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga set the standard in 1990 with five consecutive clean sheets in his home World Cup.
Simón’s shutout streak started in 2022 in Qatar during a 2-1 loss to Japan to wrap up group play.
He came into the Portugal game having made only four saves in this World Cup — Austria had no shots on target — and on Monday, Simón had to make two saves in the first half against Portugal, both on shots by Ronaldo.
The second of those saves was an impressive diving stop, when he was still in mid-air after reaching back to grab the ball with both hands. Ronaldo took that shot after teammate José Sá’s header went off the shoulder of the 29-year-old Athletic Bilbao keeper.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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