The Portuguese national team secured their place in the round of 16, setting up a meeting with Spain in the American city of Dallas, after a thrilling 2-1 victory over Croatia in a roller-coaster match played early on Friday morning at Toronto Stadium.
Following a goalless first half, Ivan Perišić opened the scoring for Croatia in the 53rd minute, but the Portuguese response was emphatic: Cristiano Ronaldo equalised from the penalty spot in the 67th minute, before substitute Gonçalo Ramos snatched the decisive winner in the 90+4th minute of stoppage time, handing his country a ticket through to the eagerly awaited clash with Spain.
Both sides entered the match looking to produce a stronger display to make up for their modest performances in the group stage and to prove themselves worthy contenders for the world title.
From the opening whistle, both teams pushed forward and exchanged attempts in search of an early goal to upset the calculations. The first initiative had a Croatian flavour, when Ante Budimir struck a powerful shot that goalkeeper Diogo Costa bravely parried, before Portugal responded swiftly with a rocket from Bruno Fernandes that goalkeeper Dominik Livaković brilliantly kept out.
As the minutes passed, Cristiano Ronaldo's teammates tightened their grip on proceedings and launched a series of attacks that forced the Croatian defence to fall back entirely to protect their penalty area. Ronaldo himself squandered a clear-cut chance when he rose to meet a perfect cross from Pedro, but the ball passed just centimetres over his head and out of play. The Portuguese continued their attacking push, yet the exceptional brilliance of the Croatian goalkeeper stood as an impenetrable wall against the efforts of Ronaldo, Leão, and Pedro, leaving the first half to end goalless despite Portugal's considerable territorial dominance.
The second half was thrilling from the outset, as the Croatians pressed forward and Mateo fired a rocket that the Portuguese defence turned into a corner. Within only eight minutes, Croatia succeeded in scoring the opening goal through Ivan Perišić, who capitalised on a pass from his teammate Josip Šutalo, while Nikola Vlašić added a second three minutes later, only for it to be disallowed for offside.
In response, the crossbar denied Leão after a powerful strike from the Portuguese, and Ronaldo then had a goal ruled out for offside before VAR intervened to award Portugal a penalty after Renato Veiga was held inside the area — which Ronaldo converted successfully to level the score.
The drama continued when Petar Sučić scored another goal, only for it to be disallowed for offside, before Gonçalo Ramos put Portugal ahead with a superb header. As everyone awaited the final whistle, and with the match reaching the 90+12th minute, Croatia scored yet again, but it too was ruled out after a VAR review found an offside infringement, and the match ended in victory for Portugal.