Mikel Merino's stoppage-time strike snatched Spain victory over Portugal at Dallas Stadium and a FIFA World Cup 2026™ quarter-final place. Luis De La Fuente’s team will now head to Los Angeles Stadium to play the winners of . The first half was shot-high but goal-shy. Mikel Oyarzabal spurned Spain’s best chance, pulling his attempt wide after Dani Olmo sent him clean through, while Diogo Costa did brilliantly to tip Alex Baena’s curler round the post. Cristiano Ronaldo threatened for Portugal, who came closest when Nuno Mendes’s deflected drive rattled the crossbar. The sides were more cautious in the second period. On extra time’s cusp, however, two substitutes combined as Ferran Torres set up Merino to settle the contest with a powerful and precise low finish. The final whistle seemingly marked the end of Ronaldo’s time on football’s biggest stage. “This will be my last World Cup,” he reiterated pre-match. The 41-year-old hit 11 goals in 27 games and set multiple milestones, including becoming the first man to score in six editions.
After taking over three years to score his first international goal, Mikel Merino has now netted nine goals in his last 17 outings for Spain.
Spain became the first team ever to register six successive clean sheets in the World Cup.
“The decisive players were those who came off the bench. I told Merino he should play how he always does. His role is to support the midfielders and the forwards. With him, we were thinking about giving the team the rhythm and energy it needed. The players’ impact from the bench has been masterful, but that’s because we have 26 players of a very high level.” Luis De La Fuente, Spain coach
“Obviously we are sad. We came here with one goal: to win the whole thing. Unfortunately we were not at our best level. I think we played better in the first half today, but in the second half we made the same mistake of defending too low on the pitch, giving the ball to them. When this happens, sooner or later you are going to concede a goal. Congratulations to Spain, they have quality, but I think that if we continued doing what we did in the first half, we could have had a better result.” Bruno Fernandes, Portugal midfielder
“The Portuguese people can be proud of this team and these players. It’s a real pity. We hit the crossbar. I think we deserved to take the game into extra time. We defended well. We were playing against one of the favourites to win the World Cup. Maybe we were just missing a bit of luck. Luck wasn’t on our side today, but it was a very evenly matched game.” Roberto Martínez, Portugal coach
Sources: FIFA Official
