21/26ths of the World Cup
Portugal's success at the World Cup in the 21st Century was a 4th place finish in 2006. In 2022 they were upset by Morocco in the Quarterfinals. The 12th match of the Round of 32 saw Croatia standing in Portugal's way. Croatia finished 2nd and 3rd consecutively in the last two World Cups. Both were hungry to win a first World Championship, especially for their aging stars. Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric are most likely competing in their final World Cup tournaments. Unfortunately for the world watching, one of them would have to go. Croatia would come out in the 2nd half and take the lead in the 53rd minute thanks to Ivan Persic. They would hold onto that lead and frustrate Portugal until the 68th minute. A corner kick for Portugal resulted in Nikola Vlasic illegally tackling Renato Veiga in the box. Cristiano Ronaldo would step up and try his best a penalty kick. Ronaldo would shoot the ball to the left of Croatia's goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic who fell to his right. The match would go back and forth when Goncalo Ramos put Portugal ahead in the 4th minute of 2nd half stoppage time. Croatia would draw level by a goal from Joskvo Gvardiol at what appeared to be the end of the match. VAR would deem the goal not to count due to an offside player. Wildly, Mario Pasalic was onside when the ball was initially played to him in the box. A slight touch, confirmed by the chip in the official ball of the 2026 Trionda, showed that the ball grazed the hair of Igor Matanovic before falling to Mario. His pass to Gvardiol would not count, nullifying the goal. Unfortunately for Croatia and Luka Modric, Croatia is heading home the earliest in a World Cup since 2014 where they never made it out of the group. Portugal move on to the Round of 16 for an Iberian Derby against Spain.
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