Portugal beat Croatia 2–1, Spain quarterfinal set

Portugal edge Croatia 2–1, Spain waiting in the last 16

Your team is through. Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric went head-to-head Saturday, and it was Portugal who stayed alive, 2–1 over Croatia in the round of 16 (2) (3). Modric goes home. Ronaldo marches on.

The match did not pass without controversy. Croatia had a goal disallowed, and the reaction reached absurd levels, even Igor Matanovic's barber weighed in (5). Reddit is still picking over the refereeing, with fans dragging up a similar incident from Euro 2024 (Reddit).

Spain touch down in Dallas

Spain arrived in Dallas to prepare for the quarterfinal against Portugal (1). Luis de la Fuente's squad includes Lamine Yamal and Pedri, and they bring a defensive weapon with them: Unai Simón is on a clean-sheet record run that has him in the frame for the World Cup Golden Glove (6). Your team's penalty specialist Diogo Costa against Spain's shutout machine, that is the matchup.

The scrutiny on Martínez is not going away

A Managing Madrid podcast panel broke down the Croatia–Portugal controversy, predicted Mourinho's ideal XI, and asked the uncomfortable question: can Roberto Martínez take this squad far enough (4)? The noise is not new. André Pinotes Batista has already said at least ten coaches could do better with this group. Beat Spain, and the conversation changes.

Fan reactions

The refereeing in the Croatia match has Reddit pulling receipts. One fan resurfaced a near-identical moment from Euro 2024, a Croatian defender clears, a forward challenges, the ball bounces, and the thread is buzzing with comparisons to the Matanovic call. The mood is split between relief at progressing and unease about how close it was.

See the full thread on r/soccer