Portugal vs Spain
Arlington, 6 July 2026
An Iberian knockout tie settled in stoppage time. Mikel Merino came off the bench and scored the only goal to send Spain into the quarterfinals and end Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup career.
Match Report
The two Iberian neighbours met at a World Cup for the third time, after a Spanish win in 2010 and a 3-3 draw in the 2018 group stage. Portugal had beaten Spain on penalties in the 2025 Nations League final.
Chances were scarce. Mikel Oyarzabal was played clean through by Dani Olmo inside ten minutes and dragged his shot wide. Diogo Costa then produced a double save, first from Lamine Yamal and then from the rebound off Alex Baena. Portugal’s best moment of the half came four minutes before the interval, when a Nuno Mendes drive deflected off Pedro Porro and came back off the bar.
Portugal did not manage a shot on target after the break. The game turned in stoppage time: Ferran Torres, on as a substitute, slid the ball to fellow substitute Mikel Merino, who finished past Costa in the 91st minute, six minutes after coming on.
Spain had 15 attempts to Portugal’s ten. Ronaldo was the only Portugal player to register a shot on target all night. Anthony Taylor refereed.
| Minute | Team | Scorer |
|---|---|---|
| 90’+1′ | Spain | Mikel Merino (assisted by Ferran Torres) |
The End of Ronaldo’s World Cup
Cristiano Ronaldo had said before kickoff that this would be his last World Cup. He was 41, and the defeat closed a career at the tournament that ran from Germany in 2006 to Texas twenty years later.
He finished with 11 goals in 27 World Cup appearances and became the first man to score at six different editions, a mark he set in Houston earlier in the tournament. He scored three times in 2026.
Spain kept another clean sheet, their sixth in succession at World Cups and the first time any team had managed that. The run began with a goalless draw against Morocco in the 2022 Round of 16 and continued through all five of their 2026 matches to this point. The previous record of five was shared by Italy and Switzerland. Goalkeeper Unai Simon extended his own record for the longest run without conceding at World Cups to 609 minutes.
Merino’s goal was the tenth winner scored in the 90th minute or later at the 2026 tournament, the most in any single edition. Spain reached their first quarterfinal since winning the trophy in 2010, and went on to win this one too, beating Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the final at New York New Jersey Stadium on 19 July.
The Venue
Dallas Stadium sits in Arlington, roughly 20 miles west of downtown Dallas, and opened in 2009 as the home of the Dallas Cowboys. It hosted nine matches at the 2026 World Cup, more than any other venue: five group-stage fixtures, two Round of 32 ties, one Round of 16 tie, and the first semifinal on 14 July. FIFA confirmed its tournament capacity at 70,649.
On the venue name. During the 2026 World Cup, FIFA referred to AT&T Stadium as Dallas Stadium. Both names refer to the same building in Arlington, the home of the Dallas Cowboys.
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