Soccer powerhouses Spain and Portugal are set to go head-to-head in what should be an epic Round of 16 clash at the FIFA World Cup on Monday.
The matchup takes place at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas with the winner advancing to the quarter-final round on July 10 where they’ll play the victor of Monday night’s game been host United States and Belgium.
Maybe the biggest storyline entering this contest will be centred on Portuguese soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 41-year-old announced on Sunday that this World Cup, the sixth of his career, will be his last despite Portugal serving as a co-host for the 2030 World Cup.
“What remains with me is the people — the people who love you. I share hotels with the staff, Latino people, and those are spectacular memories. Yesterday on the flight, there was an Argentine flight attendant. And knew she was Argentine by the way she looked at me: ‘I knew you were Argentine by the way you looked at me. If you look away quickly, it means you don’t like Cristiano,’” Ronaldo told reporters via a translator.
“I want to enjoy what will be my last World Cup to the fullest. Hopefully, tomorrow won’t be my last match. That way, you can keep bashing me some more.”
Ronaldo has three goals so far this tournament, scoring twice in a group stage dismantling of Uzbekistan while finding the back of the net from the penalty spot in the team’s Round of 32 win against Croatia, his first ever knockout-stage goal at the World Cup
Ronaldo also became the first player ever to score in six different World Cup campaigns. He is sitting on 11 goals at the tournament for his storied career.
Spain and Portugal have recent history in the FIFA World Cup as the two sides battled to a memorable 3-3 draw in group stage play at the 2018 tournament in Russia.
Ronaldo scored all three goals for Portugal in that game, including an equalizer in the 88th minute after Spain scored back-to-back goals over a span of three minutes earlier in the second half to take a 3-2 advantage.
On Thursday, Portugal narrowly survived Croatia 2-1 in Toronto in one of the best games of the tournament thus far. The Portuguese trailed 1-0 in the second half, but a goal by Ronaldo on a penalty kick tied the game, and a picture-perfect header from Goncalo Ramos in the fourth minute of stoppage time gave Portugal the win.
Portugal, ranked seventh in the world, drew twice and picked up one win during the preliminary round, finishing second in Group K behind Colombia.
Spain, third in the world, will give Portugal all they can handle in this clash.
The Spaniards handled Austria 3-0 in their Round of 32 matchup in Los Angeles last week. A brace from Mikel Oyarzabal and a goal from Pedro Porro put La Roja comfortably through to the Round of 16 for the third straight World Cup.
Spain collected seven of a possible nine points on their way to winning Group H and drawing Austria in the knockout stage, who finished second in Group J.
Portugal has never won the World Cup with their best results coming with a third-place finish in 1966, fourth place in 2006 and quarter-final appearance in 2022, losing to Morocco.
Spain captured the 2010 World Cup in South Africa but have been eliminated in the Round of 16 at the last two tournaments.
