Can Spain’s Lamine Yamal become as great as Cristiano Ronaldo?
Ahead of Spain vs. Portugal in Dallas, Curry Finical speaks to fans of both teams to find out Yamal’s ceiling in soccer.
ARLINGTON, Texas – Substitute Mikel Merino scored a heroic goal in the 90th minute as Spain defeated Portugal 1-0 on Monday, July 6 to advance to the World Cup quarterfinals.
Merino came on for Pedri in the 85th minute and received a fine assist from Fernan Torres, who also came on as a substitute.
This defeat was the last World Cup match of Cristiano Ronaldo’s career. The 41-year-old said the 2026 tournament would be his last, with Portugal eliminated with a loss. He debuted in 2006 and was the only player to score in six World Cup matches, finishing his World Cup career with 11 goals.
After a hard-fought match, Spain awaits the winner between the United States and Belgium in the quarterfinals.
Highlights of Spain’s 1-0 win over Portugal are below.
Spain will face the winner of the USA-Belgium game after a hard-fought victory over Portugal thanks to a last-minute goal from Mikel Merino. What a game.
Bernardo Silva’s header just before the goal went just over the post. That would have been insane.
Lo and behold, just minutes after coming on, Mikel Merino gave Spain a 1-0 lead in the 90th minute. Ferran Torres set up the goal with a great assist.
Portugal’s Bernardo Silva was given a yellow card after receiving a serious foul.
Spain will replace Pedri and Olmo with Fabian Ruiz and Mikel Merino respectively.
Rafael Leao found Portugal’s crease on the left, but Spain’s Pedro Polo made a nice tackle to stop the attack.
Here in Arlington, the crowd of 70,649 was sold out.
Portugal almost took a 1-0 lead with a goal from Bruno Fernandes, but his shot from the right side narrowly missed and hit the outside net.
Yamal took a free kick from outside the right side of the box, but Diogo Costa deflected it over the goal post.
It’s time for your second and final hydration break. The game leveled out in the second half, but both Spain and Portugal were still scoreless. So far, both sides are looking a little lackluster.
Spain had Alex Baena looking for a good goal, but his shot was saved by Diogo Costa’s diving effort, who was excellent today. Portugal’s defense is doing a good job against this Spanish attack.
Near the middle of the second half, the pace of both teams slowed down.
Pedri was wide open at the top of the box, but his shot went over the post. Here in Texas, they are still scoreless and neither team can find much momentum in the first half.
It was a tough break for Portugal. Left-back Nuno Mendes was injured, with Nelson Semedo taking his place. Mendez was shown walking down the sideline on his own after receiving assistance on the field.
Arguably one of the best wing-backs in the world for PSG, Mendes is a big loss, especially considering he is lined up on the same side as Lamine Yamal.
Right winger Pedro Neto tried to break through downfield, but his cross to Ronaldo, who was gaining momentum inside the box, went just wide. Ronaldo was clearly annoyed about this.
The second half is underway. Will Spain or Portugal break the goalless draw rule? Let’s find out.
A fun first half ended in a scoreless draw. Both teams had many chances so far, but they were wasted.
Ramin Yamal is causing all sorts of problems on the right wing. He evaded a Portuguese defender, but his shot on goal was saved by Diogo Costa.
There will be at least six minutes of stoppage time in the first half.
Following a Portuguese corner kick, Nuno Mendes’ left-footed shot deflected off the head of a Spanish defender and hit the crossbar. What a sequence!
João Félix’s header was blocked by Unai Simon, who made an incredible diving save from Ronaldo’s kick just in front of the left post. Simón saved two goals there with a chance created by Pedro Neto’s excellent cross.
Yamal slipped the ball to Dani Olmo in front of goal, but Joao Cancelo was in position to protect the scoring opportunity. Spain is starting to put serious pressure on Portugal’s defense.
Lamine Yamal burst through the defenders and charged toward goal, but Renato Veiga denied his incoming pass with a well-timed sliding tackle. That could have prevented the goal.
We are now on our first hydration break. Interesting match so far between Spain and Portugal.
IShowSpeed, a well-known streamer and famous Ronaldo superfan, appears on the video board here. He received a huge cheer and responded to Ronaldo’s celebration of his goal.
He couldn’t afford to miss Ronaldo’s final World Cup match.
Lamine Yamal had a great opportunity to score by outrunning the defenders, but his effort was saved by Diogo Costa. The ball hit Alex Baena directly on the leg from the left, but Costa made another great save.
The game has been moving at a great pace so far and both goalkeepers have been really good.
Spain have yet to score, but their attack is causing problems for Portugal from the start.
Ronaldo had a chance to score, but his shot from the right side of the box was hit directly by Unai Simon. Portugal now wins a corner kick.
Oyarzabal broke free through the Portuguese defense and was one-on-one with goalkeeper Diogo Costa, but his shot just hit the post. He certainly wants it back. It was a great entry pass for Dani Olmo.
Jauh Cancelo found the crease on the right, but his shot went just over the post. The ball broke.
Mikel Oyarzabal fired a shot from just outside the box that hit Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Costa right in the face. Lamine Yamal then intercepted a pass on the right, but the attacker got free near the post and missed the cross.
The attack looked very good, but Spain missed some chances here.
Sent to you from Arlington, Texas.
The national anthem was sung. We’re just a few minutes away from kickoff here in Arlington.
Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t retired yet, but today’s match against Spain could be the Portuguese legend’s last World Cup game. He admitted on July 5 that 2026 will certainly be his last World Cup with Saudi Arabia’s Al Nasr, although he has not yet retired from his club.
The 41-year-old all-time great is under contract with Al Nasr until 2027.
Spain national team striker Mikel Oyarzabal started four games and scored four goals for Spain at this year’s World Cup. The Real Sociedad forward scored two goals against Austria in the round of 32 and two against Saudi Arabia in the group stage.
The winner of the 2026 World Cup match between Portugal and Spain will play the winner of the match between USA and Belgium in the quarterfinals in Inglewood, California.
Ronaldo has scored 11 World Cup goals in six tournaments (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026). The first player to score in six different World Cups, he has scored three goals in this tournament, including two in the group stage against Uzbekistan and one in Portugal’s last-32 win against Croatia.
The game is being broadcast on Fox, but you can also watch it on the Fubo or Fox One apps. Spanish-language broadcasts are available on Telemundo and Peacock.
Watch every World Cup match on Fubo
The matchup will kick off at 3pm ET.
goalkeeper
Unai Simon
defender
Pedro Pore, Aymeric Laporte, Pau Kbalsi, Marc Cucurella
midfielder
Alex Baena, Rodri (C), Pedri
attack
Dani Olmo, Lamine Yamal, Mikel Oyarzabal
goalkeeper
Diogo Costa
midfielder
Ruben Diaz, Renato Veiga, Joao Cancelo, Nuno Mendes
midfielder
Bruno Fernandes, Joao Neves, Vicinha
attack
Cristiano Ronaldo (C), Joao Felix, Pedro Neto
Round of 16 games will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Seth Terny: Portugal 0-2 Spain
While Spain is on cruise control over Austria, Portugal is just running through it. Portugal’s luck will run out against one of the best two teams in the tournament.
john arnold: Portugal 0-3 Spain
Spain’s machine continues to power up and is starting to look like the team many expected before the tournament. This is in return for Ronaldo’s hat-trick in Russia.
Jesse Yomtov: Portugal 0-1 Spain
Ronaldo and his friends encounter a buzzsaw that appears to be a fully armed Spanish army conducting an operational attack.
victoria hernandez: Portugal 1-3 Spain
Spain will be ready to unleash Cristiano Ronaldo and show who their new great player is.
Spain won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the country’s first world championship.
round 16
quarterfinals
- July 9: FRA vs. MRC – Foxboro
- July 10: POR/ESP vs. USA/BEL – Inglewood
- July 11: NOR vs. ENG – Miami
- July 11: ARG/EGY vs. SWI/COL – Kansas City
Portugal has never won a World Cup, and their best ever finish was fourth place in 2006, Cristiano Ronaldo’s first appearance in the tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo plays club soccer for Al Nasr in Saudi Arabia.
