Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal stayed alive in the World Cup Thursday.
In a late thriller, Portugal survived Croatia 2-1 in Toronto to mark a rollercoaster finish to their Round of 32 matchup.
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After a rather cagey first half in which Portugal mostly controlled the game to no avail, it was Croatia that eventually flipped the script in the second.
Longtime veteran Ivan Perisic, operating as a left-back, found himself in the right position after a ball from Josef Stanisic on the right flank came into his path. He made no mistake to slot it home low and with power in the 53rd minute.
Both teams exchanged some spells with the ball from there, with Croatia not being a stranger to World Cup upsets. After all, it made the 2018 final and followed it up with a 2022 semifinal appearance.
Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez then made a massive gamble by bringing in a quadruple change in the 62nd minute. Big names in Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha, Joao Cancelo and Pedro Neto came out for Francisco Conceicao, Bernardo Silva, Nelson Semedo and Goncalo Ramos, the latter a striker.
Ronaldo thought he had equalized when he latched onto a deep lobbed pass and chipped goalie Dominik Livakovic, but it was ruled out for offsides. Replays showed it was just close.
But the 41-year-old veteran had his say in the 68th minute.
After center-back Renato Veiga was adjudged to have been brought down with two hands inside the box while going for a header, Ronaldo stepped up for the penalty. He made no mistake, as the conversion became his first ever knockout goal at the World Cup.
Ronaldo eventually came out in the 81st minute for midfielder Ruben Neves as Portugal failed to settle the tempo in the center of the pitch.
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Martinez gambled taking out Ronaldo in case the game went to penalties, but after 10 minutes of added time he was justified.
In the fourth minute of added time, Ramos rose up over two Croatian defenders to head home a left-flank cross from Rafael Leao. A third defender was in the vicinity, but none had enough leap to challenge the 25 year old.
Portugal just had to hang on from there. But Croatia didn’t make it easy.
Croatia believed it found the equalizer beyond the 10 added minutes, as center-back Josko Gvardiol put home a loose ball inside the box. However, a VAR review deemed there was an offside in the build up, canceling the goal and celebrations.
Portugal ended the game with 2.18 expected goals across 15 shots and 19 touches in Croatia’s box, per data-tracking platform FotMob. Penalties usually account for around 0.7 expected goals.
Croatia, for comparison’s sake, had 1.34 expected goals on 13 shots and 22 touches in Portugal’s box. It could’ve gone either way, but Croatia’s lack of attacking development stung the nation once again. It’s also the last World Cup for 40-year-old midfielder Luka Modric, one of the legends of the game.
Up next for Portugal is a Round of 16 date with Spain, one of the fellow top contenders for the World Cup. Kickoff in Dallas is set for Monday, July 6 at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT.
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