Portugal 2-1 Croatia: Ramos Sinks Modrić Late
For 94 minutes this looked like Croatia's night, and like the perfect send-off for Luka Modrić. They led, they defended it the way they always have, and they were seconds from the last 16. Then Rafael Leão stood one up at the far post, Gonçalo Ramos climbed above everyone, and Portugal won it 2-1 in the final action of the game. Cristiano Ronaldo had already dragged his side level from the spot; Ramos made sure his tournament — and Modrić's — went in opposite directions.
How did Croatia take the lead?
Croatia did what Croatia do. They controlled the tempo through midfield, made Portugal work for every yard, and on 53 minutes they got the goal the performance had been building toward when Ivan Perišić arrived to finish it off. At 37 he is still turning up in the biggest moments, and for a while it felt like a script written for the old guard.
Portugal, for all their talent, had been strangely flat. Roberto Martínez's side passed the ball without ever really threatening, and Croatia's back line — marshalled as ever by the veterans — dealt with everything thrown at it. An hour in, the favourites looked like a team running out of ideas against opponents who have made a habit of ruining big occasions.
What happened with Ronaldo's penalty?
Then came the moment the whole tournament had been waiting to see. On 68 minutes Nikola Vlašić caught Renato Veiga inside the box, the referee pointed to the spot, and Cristiano Ronaldo did what he has done for two decades. He sent the goalkeeper the wrong way and levelled it, and the noise inside Toronto Stadium told you exactly what his goal meant to the Portuguese support.
It was not a vintage Ronaldo display — at 41, in his sixth World Cup, those are rare now — but it was a vintage Ronaldo moment. Given a chance to decide the biggest game of his tournament, he took it without a flicker of doubt, and you could feel Portugal's belief return the instant the net rippled. At 41 years and 147 days he became the oldest player ever to score in a men's World Cup knockout match, one more line in a record book he has spent 20 years rewriting.
How did Ramos win it at the death?
Extra time looked certain. Croatia even thought they had nicked it in stoppage time when Rúben Neves turned the ball into his own net, only for VAR to rule it out for offside in the build-up — a reprieve that felt, in hindsight, like a warning. Seconds later Portugal went up the other end, Rafael Leão whipped in a cross from the left, and Gonçalo Ramos met it with a header the Croatian defence could do nothing about.
The 94th minute. The last meaningful touch of the match. Ramos had been on the pitch barely half an hour, sent on by Martínez to chase exactly this kind of moment, and he delivered it. Croatia sank to the turf; Portugal sprinted for the corner flag. A game that had drifted toward an orderly Croatian victory ended in bedlam.
Why was Ronaldo in tears at full time?
Because this was never only about football. When the final whistle went, Cristiano Ronaldo pulled on a Portugal shirt carrying Diogo Jota's number 21, and the tears came as he pointed to the sky and gathered his team-mates around him. Jota and his brother André Silva had died in a car crash almost a year to the day earlier, and the anniversary hanging over this fixture had been felt all night, from the tribute before kickoff to the way the players carried themselves after.
"We know he is present with us and it only made sense to win today to honour him," Ronaldo told Fox afterwards, calling it a moment that meant far more than three points. Ramos, the man who scored the winner, put it simply: "He gives us strength and it's very special to have won today." For all the drama of the comeback, it was Jota's number on Ronaldo's back that everyone remembered walking out of Toronto Stadium.
Was this Modrić's last World Cup?
In all likelihood, yes, and it is a brutal way for it to close. At 40, Luka Modrić gave his side everything again, and for 94 minutes his team were on course for a send-off worthy of the career. To lose it in the final seconds, to a header from a substitute, is the kind of ending nobody in Croatia will want to dwell on.
This is a nation that reached a World Cup final in 2018 and has kept turning up in the latter stages ever since, and much of it has been built around the man in the number 10 shirt. If this really was the last act, it deserved a kinder finish than a Ramos header nobody in red-and-white saw coming.
Should Portugal be worried?
Winning ugly still counts, and Portugal are through, but Martínez will know his side were second best for long stretches. The fluency that a squad this talented is supposed to produce simply was not there, and against a Spain team that brushed Austria aside in the same round, that will not be nearly enough.
What keeps them dangerous is the obvious thing: they have the players to win a game from nowhere. Ronaldo's penalty and Ramos's header rescued a night that was slipping away, much as their attacking depth had carried them through the group stage. Against the best side left in their half of the draw, though, rescuing games is a habit that eventually runs out.
What does the Spain tie look like?
It could hardly be tougher. Portugal get Spain next, a side that looked ruthless in seeing off Austria and that carries the kind of control in midfield Portugal could not find here. The Iberian derby is the pick of the Round of 16, and on this evidence Portugal will need to be a great deal sharper than they managed against Croatia.
For Ronaldo, it is one more shot at the prize that has always escaped him, in a career that keeps refusing to end quietly. Portugal are still standing and the bracket is wide open, but they will have to be a different team against Spain than the one that laboured past Croatia.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the score in Portugal vs Croatia at World Cup 2026?
Portugal 2-1 Croatia. Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonçalo Ramos scored in the Round of 32 in Toronto on July 2, 2026, after Ivan Perišić had put Croatia in front.
Who scored for Portugal against Croatia?
Cristiano Ronaldo equalised from the penalty spot on 68 minutes, and substitute Gonçalo Ramos headed the winner in the 94th minute from a Rafael Leão cross.
How did Croatia take the lead?
Ivan Perišić scored on 53 minutes, finishing a second-half move to put Croatia 1-0 up before Portugal's late comeback.
Who do Portugal play next at World Cup 2026?
Portugal advance to the Round of 16, where they face Spain.
Why did Ronaldo wear the No. 21 shirt after the game?
At full time Cristiano Ronaldo pulled on a Portugal shirt bearing Diogo Jota's No. 21 and pointed to the sky, an emotional tribute close to the first anniversary of Jota's death in a car crash alongside his brother André Silva.
Did Ronaldo set a record against Croatia?
Yes. His 68th-minute penalty made Ronaldo, at 41 years and 147 days, the oldest player to score in a men's World Cup knockout match.
Was this Luka Modrić's last World Cup?
Almost certainly. The 2-1 defeat to Portugal ends Croatia's tournament, and at 40 Modrić is highly unlikely to feature at another World Cup.
People Also Ask
Data sources
- FIFA — Portugal 2-1 Croatia result, stats and highlights
- ESPN — Ramos, Ronaldo goals lead Portugal to dramatic win
- Olympics.com — Ronaldo scores as Croatia denied at the end
- Yahoo Sports — Round of 32 live updates: Portugal tops Croatia
- Wikipedia — 2026 FIFA World Cup knockout stage
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