FRI, JULY 3 AT 4:30AM
Toronto, July 1: Portugal‘s chances of overcoming Croatia and booking their place in the last 16 of World Cup 2026 will likely be enhanced if Cristiano Ronaldo can achieve something he has never done before, scoring in a World Cup knockout game.
Roberto Martinez’s side could only finish second in Group K, having drawn with DR Congo and pool winners Colombia either side of a convincing 5-0 victory over Uzbekistan.
Ronaldo, 41, was on target twice in the hammering of Uzbekistan, but drew blanks in the 1-1 draw with DR Congo and the goalless stalemate with Colombia.
The Al-Nassr striker will feature in his ninth World Cup knockout match if he plays against Croatia in Friday’s contest at Toronto Stadium.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has notably never scored in any of his previous eight such contests. He has attempted 29 shots in the knockout stages of the competition without netting, the joint-most of any player on record (since 1966) along with Brazil’s Roberto Carlos.
Portugal have a few issues to solve that cropped up in the group stage. They completed their most passes ever in the group stage of a World Cup (1.690) and averaged their highest possession (62.5%), but only in 2018 did Portugal attempt fewer shots (32) and have fewer shots on target (9) than they did in this year’s group stages (37 shots and 12 on target).
With a win and two draws in the groups, Portugal are unbeaten in their three games at World Cup 2026 thus far. Only on two occasions have they gone four-plus matches without defeat across a single World Cup campaign, doing so in 1966 (4) and 2006 (5).
Vitinha has typically been trying to get Portugal going in midfield, and the Paris Saint-Germain ace will hope to be influential here. He completed 270 passes in the group stages, the most on record by a Portugal player in the group stages of a World Cup.
Additionally, against Colombia he completed all of his 54 passes, the joint-most passes on record by a midfielder in a World Cup match to maintain a 100% accuracy.
Croatia started their World Cup 2026 campaign with a disappointing 4-2 loss against England, having been locked at 2-2 at the break.
But Zlatko Dalić’s side recovered to defeat Panama 1-0 and Ghana 2-1 to finish as runners-up in Group L and book their place against Portugal.
They are now looking to win three consecutive matches at a major tournament for the first time since the 2018 World Cup, a tournament where they were ultimately beaten by France in the final.
This is the fourth time Croatia have reached the knockout stages of a World Cup, while they have progressed past the first knockout round in all three of those previous tournaments (1998, 2018, and 2022).
If Luka Modric features in this game, it will be his 23rd outing at the World Cup, moving him level with Paolo Maldini and Manuel Neuer into joint-fifth for most appearances at the tournament.
Only Lionel Messi (29), Cristiano Ronaldo (who could extend his own tally to 25), Lothar Matthäus (25), and Miroslav Klose (24) would have made more appearances than Modric. (Agencies)
