Cristiano Ronaldo says goodbye to the World Cup. The Spanish team, with a dramatic 0-1 victory this Monday in Dallas, eliminated Portugal in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup, advancing to the round of the eight best on the planet.

The Spanish Red won in a very even duel, in which neither team established a considerable difference over its rival, with ball handling predominating in the middle of the field. Vitinha and Joao Neves on one side, Rodri and Pedri on the other, marked the times of a game that was more leisurely than frenetic.

The team led by Roberto Martínez had a significant loss during the development of the actions when the left back Nuno Mendes had to be replaced, which represented the loss of an incisive player in the Portuguese offense.

Luis de la Fuente, for his part, found the answer in the changes to win the victory. First, due to the entry of Ferrán Torres to replace Alex Baena.

Later, the departure of Dani Olmo for Mikel Merino at 85 minutes was a reward for the Spanish, since it was Torres himself who found Merino acting as a center forward, and with a filtered pass, he was in an unbeatable position to beat Diogo Costa around the 90th minute.

The Portuguese were forced to look for an equalizer in seven minutes of injury time, but despite an attempt by Bernardo Silva in the area, Unai Simón's goal never felt under siege.

Spain waits for the winner between the United States and Belgium.

The last dance of a relentless scorer

In the pre-match press conference, Cristiano Ronaldo answered journalists' questions in good spirits. One of them was linked to a possible goodbye for the number 7 in the World Cup.

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United confirmed that this would be his last time in a World Cup, although he hoped that Spain would not be his executioner.

However, as in 2010, the image of the Spaniards celebrating behind Cristiano Ronaldo was repeated again. It was again at an early stage for the size of a player who knew how to break all records in clubs and Qualifiers.

Cristiano leaves, at 41 years old, having only played in one World Cup semi-final: the first, the 2006 edition, alongside stars like Figo and Deco.

Head down, crying, with his hand raised to say goodbye to his fans, with a slow step towards the locker room. Thus left a disconsolate Ronaldo who dealt with a tournament full of questions, criticism and doubts towards Portugal. A few days ago he had broken the curse of never having scored in elimination rounds, but this Monday he did not even have clear opportunities to be the target of criticism.

The greeting with Lamine Yamal at the end of the game confirmed the generational change. Football will rest on the shoulders of the new footballers; Cristiano, for his part, will continue to be a legend, one of those who was never able to lift the most precious trophy at the international level.