Portugal looked dead and buried at halftime against Croatia. Then Cristiano Ronaldo did what he’s done for two decades now, dragging his team back from the edge. The 2-1 comeback win at BMO Field in Toronto wasn’t pretty and it needed a penalty to get started, but it got the job done.
Ivan Perisic put Croatia ahead in the 53rd minute and for a stretch it felt like Luka Modric might get one more run at the trophy that’s eluded him. But Ronaldo converted a penalty in the 68th minute after having a goal called back for offside just moments earlier, and then substitute Goncalo Ramos headed home Rafael Leao’s cross to finish the turnaround. Croatia had three goals disallowed in the second half including what looked like a 113th-minute equalizer from Josko Gvardiol. VAR giveth and VAR taketh away, and this time it taketh from the guys in the checkered shirts.
Modric is almost certainly done with the national team after this. His final bow in a Croatia shirt comes at the hands of his old Real Madrid teammate. That’s the kind of storyline the World Cup just keeps serving up.
Portugal now gets Spain in the round of 16. An all-Iberian clash with everything on the line.
Spain’s Defense Hasn’t Broken Yet
Spain rolled past Austria 3-0 and hasn’t conceded a single goal in this tournament. Mikel Oyarzabal scored twice and Pedro Porro added his first international goal. Lamine Yamal won Man of the Match but Oyarzabal was the one doing the damage. The 29-year-old has 24 goal contributions in his last 16 appearances for Spain. That’s not hot form. That’s sustained excellence at the highest level.
Austria didn’t get a single shot on target in their first knockout game since 1954. That’s a stat that tells you everything about how lopsided this one was. France might be the betting favorite but Spain looks every bit capable of derailing that hype train. If both teams hold serve a semifinal in Dallas could be absolutely massive.
Messi and the World’s Longest Shot
Cape Verde made history by reaching the knockout stage without winning a single game. They drew all three group matches including a 0-0 result against Spain. No team since Chile in 1998 had pulled that off and no debutant had done it since Slovakia in 2010. But the reward for that improbable run is facing Lionel Messi. Again.
Argentina’s 39-year-old captain has six goals so far tied with Kylian Mbappe for the tournament lead. He’s scored in seven consecutive World Cup matches which is the longest streak ever. His free kick against Jordan made that record official. He’s also scored six of Argentina’s eight goals in group play. The man is basically carrying the defending champions on his back and seems perfectly fine doing it.
Standing in his way is Cape Verde’s 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha. He’ll need the performance of a lifetime to keep Messi from adding to his tally. Argentina has won seven straight World Cup games against African opposition. The history is not on Cape Verde’s side. But then again none of this run was supposed to happen anyway.
Messi returns to familiar ground in Miami for this one. The same city where he plays club soccer now. That feels like the kind of stage where records keep falling.
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