Over the past two decades, Spain have inflicted plenty of trauma and heartbreak on the Portuguese national team. La Roja beat Portugal 1-0 in the Round of 16 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup en route to their maiden title.
Two years later, Spain edged past their Iberian neighbours on penalties to secure their spot in the European Championship Final, where the team secured a third-consecutive major trophy after Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.
Portugal might have expected that pattern to change after beating Spain on penalties in the 2025 UEFA Nations League Final — the last time Spain suffered a defeat.
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But at the 2026 World Cup in Dallas, Spain put an end to Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup dreams, perhaps once and for all.
“I leave with a clear conscience,” Ronaldo said after the match.
“I’ve done everything I could. Portugal had never won a cup before me and they’ve won three now. We won Euro 2016, which I think is as big as the World Cup.
"We gave everything…we played a good game, but Spain are among the best. They will get to the final or come close.”
Whilst Spain had demolished Austria 3-0 in the Round of 32, Portugal had only narrowly snuck past Croatia via a late goal from Gonçalo Ramos. Despite the super-sub heroics, Ramos didn’t see a single minute in Texas. It was far from Roberto Martinez’s only head-scratching decision.
Spain and Portugal traded blows in the first half, with Mikel Oyarzabal coming close to opening the scoring only to spurn his chance. And Diogo Costa once again demonstrated why he was Portugal’s best performer of the tournament with a shot-stopping clinic.
After a rollercoaster first half, both teams begun to take fewer risks in the second half. But just when it seemed the two sides were on level pegging, catastrophe struck for Portugal. Nuno Mendes, perhaps the sole left back in the world who consistently shuts down Lamine Yamal, went off with an injury in the 56th minute - Nelson Semedo replaced him.
Spain smelled blood and wrestled back control of the match, pinning Portugal into their own half. Spain grew into the game via their substitutions and eventually, in the 91st minute, Ferran Torres teed up fellow substitute Mikel Merino for the game-winning goal to secure Spain’s spot in the quarter-final.
And just as Brazil's World Cup exit marked the end of the Neymar era at international level, Portugal's defeat marked the end of Ronaldo's.
"It was my last World Cup, yes,” he added. “But as for the rest, there's time to think, to be with my family, and not say things in the heat of the moment."
Portugal manager Roberto Martinez will step down, with Ronaldo’s former coach Jorge Jesus likely to replace him. The Spaniard was able to bring home a minor trophy in the form of the UEFA Nations League, but ultimately, his spell will be regarded as a failure. One that was determined by the finer details, like the Euro 2024 penalty shootout defeat to France, and the last-gasp loss to Spain at this tournament.
Ronaldo, having reached the semi-final in his first World Cup, has since been eliminated in the Round of 16 in 2010 and group stage in 2014, followed by three straight Round of 16 eliminations. He will end his World Cup career with just one knockout goal – a penalty versus Croatia in the previous round.
Spain return to Los Angeles to face either the USA or Belgium, but as for Portugal, they will leave empty-handed, with far more question marks, regrets and what-ifs than anything else.
And Ronaldo will head back home with the sensation that, unlike the Euros, Champions League, LaLiga, and Premier League, the World Cup was the one competition he never quite managed to master.
