Substitute Mikel Merino scored in stoppage time to give Spain a 1-0 victory over Portugal in the last 16.
Published July 6, 2026
Mikel Merino scored in the first minute of second-half stoppage time to help Spain beat Portugal 1-0 on Monday, raising the possibility that superstar Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup career could be over.
After being fouled, Merino took a quick free kick, ran towards goal, received a pass from Ferran Torres and fired a shot past goalkeeper Diogo Costa.
Spain advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time since their only World Cup victory in South Africa in 2010. La Roja will play either USA or Belgium on Friday at Los Angeles Stadium.
Ronaldo was trying to lead Portugal to a second successive quarter-final, something the country had never achieved before. In fact, it is likely that his career on the biggest stage will come to an end for him, who is the all-time leader in national team goals (146) and appearances (233).
Merino came on as a substitute until the 85th minute, and his heads-up play showed some of the versatility that helped Arsenal win their first Premier League title in over 20 years in May. His selection for the Spanish national team was doubtful due to injuries, which also affected his Premier League season.
The recent encounter between the Iberian rivals, who first played a friendly in Madrid 105 years ago, was in stark contrast to recent World Cup matches.
It was eight years ago that Ronaldo scored his only hat-trick in a World Cup. The opening match of the group stage was a 3-3 draw with Spain, considered one of the best matches of the tournament.
The 41-year-old superstar has scored three goals in the tournament, but didn’t have many chances against Spain’s Unai Simon.
La Roja were creating better chances, but extra time and possibly a penalty was looming until Merino intervened in the second half.
Spain broke the World Cup record with six consecutive shutouts, and goalkeeper Simon extended his shutout streak to 609 minutes.
Spain tied Italy (1990) and Switzerland (2006-2010) for the record for consecutive clean sheets at the World Cup. Spain’s winning streak began with a 0-0 draw in the Round of 16 in 2022, when Morocco won on penalties.
They also opened the tournament’s group play with a surprising goalless draw against Cape Verde, then won four consecutive shutouts to advance to the quarterfinals.
Simon broke the previous record of 517 consecutive minutes without scoring during Thursday’s 3-0 blanking of Austria in the tournament opener. Famous Italian goalkeeper Walter Zenga set a record in 1990 with five consecutive clean sheets at his home World Cup.
Simon’s shutout streak began during a 2-1 loss to Japan in Qatar in 2022 that ended group play.
He entered the game against Portugal with just four saves this World Cup (Austria had zero shots on target), but had to make two saves in the first half against Portugal in Arlington on Monday, both off shots from Cristiano Ronaldo.
The second of those saves was a spectacular diving stop while he was still in the air after reaching out to grab the ball with both hands.
