Cristiano Ronaldo exits in tears as Spain beats Portugal at the World Cup

Mikel Merino’s stoppage-time goal gave Spain a 1-0 win over Portugal at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and Cristiano Ronaldo walked off in tears after what he had already said would be his last World Cup. The match drew 70,649 spectators and ended Portugal’s run in the round of 16.

Ronaldo, 41, played the full match for Portugal in a tournament that marked his sixth World Cup appearance. Before kickoff, he had confirmed that this would be his final World Cup, and his exit in Arlington closed a career arc that has defined the international game for nearly two decades. He finished the 2026 tournament with three goals.

Spain advanced to the quarterfinals, where it will face the winner of the United States-Belgium match. The late finish gave Spain a hard-earned place in the last eight, while Portugal was left to reckon with the end of Ronaldo’s final World Cup campaign on North American soil.

The match carried extra weight because Portugal and Spain met for the 42nd time and only the third time in a World Cup knockout round. That history made the final minutes feel larger than a single round-of-16 result, especially with Merino’s decisive strike arriving in added time after a tightly contested 90 minutes.

For Portugal, the loss signals the start of a transition without the player who has anchored its biggest international moments for a generation. For Ronaldo, the image of leaving in tears at AT&T Stadium fit the scale of the moment, an ending that matched the magnitude of a career that stretched across six World Cups and one final, unfinished push in 2026.