Portugal, Ronaldo survive late scare from Croatia at World Cup

TORONTO -- Gonçalo Ramos headed in a pass from Rafael Leão in stoppage time as Cristiano Ronaldo, who had earlier converted a penalty kick, watched from the bench while Portugal defeated Croatia 2-1 on Thursday, ending Luka Modrić's fifth bid for a World Cup.

Ronaldo initially tied things up in the 68th minute on a penalty kick to equalize and give the megastar his first knockout stage goal at the World Cup, but it was Ramos who gave Portugal the victory as they came from behind to win for only the second time in the nation's history at the tournament.

The game ended in controversy as Croatia thought it had tied things up 2-2 in the very last moments, but Mario Pasalic was called offside as the VAR ruled no goal. Croatia fans threw bottles on the field and whistled in protest -- they also loudly booed Ronaldo every time the Portuguese star touched the ball.

"First half we dominated the game. In second half after the goal we get a little bit panic, but this is football," Ronaldo said. "After the penalty, I think it was a little bit better for us. We created a few chances and I think at the end of the day we deserved to win the match."

It was the 10th goal overruled by the VAR so far at the 2026 World Cup.

Croatia opened the scoring in the 53rd minute when Ivan Perisic scored off a cross from Josip Sanisic.

Portugal move on to face Spain on Monday in the round of 16.

Modrić led Croatia to second- and third-place finishes in 2018 and 2022, but his Croatia side could not come back and its run at this year's World Cup ended in the round of 32.

Thursday's match was the first in World Cup history to feature two outfield players who are at least 40 years old in Modrić and Ronaldo. The two former Real Madrid teammates shared a hug at midfield after the match.

"I played with Luca so many years," Ronaldo said. "We're nearly the same age. I think he's a legend of football. He's still a legend of football."

Information from ESPN Global Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.

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