It ended the way nobody in red wanted it to. Spain knocked Portugal out of the 2026 World Cup with a 1-0 win in the Round of 16 in Dallas, a late Mikel Merino goal settling a tight, tense derby — and quite possibly closing the book on Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup story for good. At 41, this was the tournament he had already said would be his last. Now it’s over.
How Portugal went out
For long spells this had the feel of a game heading for extra time. Two familiar rivals, both wary of over-committing, cancelled each other out for much of the night. Then Spain’s bench changed it. Coach Luis de la Fuente threw on Ferran Torres and Merino in the second half, and the switch paid off in stoppage time: Torres slipped a quick ball into the box and Merino, the Arsenal midfielder, finished at the near post to send Spain through.
Spain will now face the winner of USA vs Belgium in the quarter-finals. Portugal, and Ronaldo, are going home.
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Is this really Ronaldo’s last World Cup?
By his own admission, yes. Ronaldo went into the tournament having played at a record sixth World Cup, and he made his position clear before the Spain game. The next tournament, in 2030, will be co-hosted by Portugal, Spain and Morocco — but Ronaldo will be 45 by the time it kicks off, which makes another appearance almost impossible to imagine.
So while a fairytale farewell on home-continent soil in 2030 makes for a nice story, the reality is that this was almost certainly the last time we’ll see Ronaldo at a World Cup.
What Ronaldo said
Speaking in his press conference before the Spain match, Ronaldo confirmed what many had suspected. “Let this be my last World Cup; it is my last World Cup, and I hope tomorrow won’t be my last match,” he said.
It was a notable shift in tone. Only a day earlier he had batted the question away, saying he would “finish when I choose” and that fans would “see” — clearly reluctant to make the tournament about his future. By the eve of the Spain tie, though, he was ready to say it out loud: this is the end of his World Cup road.
He also admitted he had enjoyed this World Cup more than any of his previous five. After the final whistle in Dallas, with the cameras trained on him, there were tears rather than words — the picture of a player who knew exactly what the moment meant.
A record-breaking World Cup history
Whatever your view of Ronaldo, the numbers at international level are staggering. He is Portugal’s all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, with 146 goals in 232 appearances. At this tournament he became the first player in history to score at six different World Cups, netting against Uzbekistan in the group stage.
His penalty in Portugal’s 2-1 Round of 32 win over Croatia made him the second-oldest goalscorer in World Cup history, and he is now the oldest player ever to feature in the knockout stages. Not everything went his way in 2026 — he failed to score in a shock opening draw with DR Congo and was quiet in a goalless draw against Colombia — but the milestones kept coming regardless.
What comes next
For Portugal, the focus now shifts to a new era. This is a talented squad that reaches well beyond one player, and the transition many have talked about for years arrives in earnest. For Ronaldo, international retirement now feels a matter of when, not if, even if he chooses to carry on at club level.
However you feel about him, a World Cup without Cristiano Ronaldo will take some getting used to. Six tournaments, two decades, and a highlight reel that reshaped what longevity in the game looks like — it ended quietly in Dallas, in tears, on a night Spain simply found a way.
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Ronaldo said before kick-off that he hoped it wouldn’t be his last match. Spain made sure it was. Barring a near-unthinkable return at 45, the curtain has come down on one of the most remarkable World Cup careers the game has ever seen.
Reporting based on coverage of Portugal’s 1-0 Round of 16 defeat to Spain on July 6, 2026, and Cristiano Ronaldo’s pre-match press conference.
Sources: Sky Sports · CBS Sports · ESPN · Al Jazeera
