Late Spain goal eliminates Portugal, ends Ronaldo’s international career?

Sub Mikel Merino scores in stoppage time to give Spain a 1-0 win over Portugal in the last 16

Mikel Merino scored in the first minute of second-half stoppage time, and Spain beat Portugal 1-0 on Monday to likely end the World Cup career of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

After being fouled, Merino took a quick free kick, ran towards the goal and fired past goalkeeper Diogo Costa after a pass from Ferran Torres.

Spain advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since winning its only World Cup title in 2010 in South Africa. La Roja will play either the USA or Belgium on Friday at Los Angeles Stadium.

Ronaldo was trying to get Portugal to the quarterfinals for a second consecutive tournament – something the nation has not achieved before. Instead, his career on the biggest stage is likely over for the all-time leader in international goals (146) and appearances (233).

Merino did not come on as a sub until the 85th minute, and his heads-up play showed some of the versatility that helped Arsenal win its first Premier League title in more than 20 years in May. He had been doubtful to make Spain’s squad because of injuries, which also impacted his Premier League season.

The latest meeting of the Iberian Peninsula rivals – who first played a friendly in Madrid 105 years ago – was quite the contrast to their most recent World Cup match.

It was eight years ago that Ronaldo had his only World Cup hat-trick in a 3-3 draw with Spain, a group-stage opener considered one of the tournament’s best games.

The 41-year-old superstar scored three times in this tournament, but did not have many chances against Spain’s Unai Simon.

La Roja had created better chances, but extra time and possibly penalties loomed until Merino’s late intervention.

Spain’s Mikel Merino scores their first goal [Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters]

Spain broke a World Cup record with its sixth consecutive clean sheet, and goalkeeper Simon extended his record shutout streak to 609 minutes.

Spain broke its tie with Italy (1990) and Switzerland (2006-10) for the most consecutive World Cup matches not allowing a goal. Spain’s streak began with a 0-0 draw in the 2022 round of 16, when Morocco advanced after a penalty shootout.

There was also a surprising scoreless draw against Cape Verde to open group play in this tournament, followed by four consecutive shutout victories to advance to the quarterfinals.

Simon surpassed the previous record of 517 consecutive scoreless minutes during a 3-0 blanking of Austria to open the knockout round on Thursday. Famed Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga set the standard in 1990 with five consecutive clean sheets in his home World Cup.

Simon’s shutout streak started in 2022 in Qatar, during a 2-1 loss to Japan to wrap up group play.

He came into the Portugal game having made only four saves in this World Cup – Austria had no shots on target – and on Monday in Arlington, Simon had to make two saves in the first half against Portugal, both from shots by Cristiano Ronaldo.

The second of those saves was an impressive diving stop when he was still in midair after reaching back to grab the ball with both hands.

Spain’s Unai Simon saves a shot on goal by Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo [Issei Kato/Reuters]