Cristiano Ronaldo celebrating his equaliser against Croatia. AFP/VNA Photos

Thanh Hà & Anh Đức

LOS ANGELES Cristiano Ronaldo's quest in the World Cup will go on, at the expense of Luka Modric's journey, as Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in a dramatic game in Toronto on Thursday (local time).

After a goalless first half, the match took an eventful turn in the 53rd minute. Croatia surprisingly took the lead through Ivan Perisic, who controlled Josip Stanisic's cross gracefully to fire a powerful shot into the back of Diogo Costa's net.

As time ticked away for Ronaldo's last dance at the World Cup, he and Portugal were given a lifeline just after the hydration break. During a corner, Renato Veiga was brought down by Nikola Vlasic, and after consultation from VAR, referee Espen Eskas pointed to the spot, where Ronaldo took the shot confidently and scored the equaliser, his first ever goal in a World Cup knockout game.

Ronaldo was later subbed off in the 81st minute, a polarising decision by Roberto Martinez which quickly paid off.

Just ten minutes later in the first minute of injury time, substitute Goncalo Ramos headed in Rafael Leao's cross to give Portugal the lead.

Despite the match having ten minutes of added time, two more were added on by the referee, and Croatia seemingly brought the game to extra time in the last kick of the ball. A cross from the left found Mario Pasalic, who passed the ball for Josko Gvardiol to tap in the empty net.

As the Croatians rejoice, Eskas' earpiece told him to take a second look of the goaland although the Norwegian referee took a while, he came to the decision that Pasalic was in an offside position and the goal was disallowed.

The Portuguese, who were devastated just seconds ago, exploded in joy. The match ended 2-1 to Portugal, and their next opponent is contenders Spain in the last 16 on July 6 in Dallas. 

After the match, Ronaldo and Portugal took a moment with the fans to tribute former Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota, who passed away one year ago in a traffic accident.

Mikel Oyarzabal celebrating his second goal, and Spain's third, in the match against Austria on Thursday.

Spain enjoy easy win

Spain earned their first World Cup knockout-stage win since their 2010 victory as they eased through to the last 16 with a 3-0 win over Austria on July 3 in Los Angeles, the US.

Mikel Oyarzabal scored twice, and Pedro Porro was also on target at SoFi Stadium, helping Spain score multiple goals in a World Cup knockout for the first time in 32 years.

Spain asserted heavy pressure on a sitting back Austria. After seeing a goal from full-back Marc Cucurella ruled out for a foul at a corner, the European champions went ahead in the 36th minute through Mikel Oyarzabal's sweeping finish.

Nearly 30 minutes later, Pedro Porro ran in to head home Alex Baena’s cross for his first international goal.

Oyarzabal beat the offside trap to slot in his second, and Spain’s third with a minute left of normal time.

Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente said his side were “almost perfect” in their last-32 win over Austria.

“We knew it would be an important match, especially in this knockout stage. We had the previous games in mind and, in every aspect, we were almost perfect,” he said.

“There are still a few little things to improve. We can always do better. Every match is going to be more difficult than the last. We need to keep this mentality."

Switzerland's Dan Ndoye doubling the score for Switzerland.

Switzerland cruise through

Elsewhere in Vancouver, Switzerland booked their place in the round of 16 at World Cup 2026 on the morning of July 3 with a 2-0 win over Algeria in the first knockout round.

Although rated as underdogs, Algeria settled better and created several early threats. The African side were dealt a cold shower in the 10th minute, however, when Manzambi collected the ball on the left flank, drove into the box and cut it back for Embolo to finish.

The Europeans kept up the pressure and fashioned further chances for Ruben Vargas and Manzambi but could not add a second before the break, with Algeria unable to find an equaliser despite an improved spell.

Switzerland doubled their lead in the 47th minute through Dan Ndoye, who capitalised on a stray pass from an Algerian defender. Riyad Mahrez had a dangerous effort blocked in the 50th minute as Algeria pushed forward, but coach Vladimir Petkovic's changes could not break down Switzerland's deep, deliberate defence.

The 2-0 win marked the first time Switzerland had scored twice in a World Cup knockout match since 1954. They will face the winner of Colombia against Ghana. — VNS