Croatia eliminated from the World Cup after VAR drama in Toronto, Portugal to face Spain
The Croatian national football team ended its campaign at the 2026 World Cup after a 2:1 defeat to Portugal in the round of 32 match played on 2 July 2026 at Toronto Stadium in Toronto, in the Canadian province of Ontario. According to FIFA’s schedule and official match centre, the duel was a meeting between the second-placed national teams from Groups K and L, with a place among the final 16 teams of the tournament at stake. Croatia took the lead through Ivan Perišić’s goal in the 53rd minute, Cristiano Ronaldo equalised from a penalty in the 68th minute, and Gonçalo Ramos scored in the fourth minute of added time to send Portugal into the round of 16 against Spain. ESPN’s match summary and Reuters’ report published after the match confirm the final 2:1 for Portugal, noting that the closing stages were marked by a long VAR check and a disallowed Croatian equaliser.
The match in Toronto had all the elements of a knockout drama: a comeback, a penalty, four disallowed goals, two shots off the woodwork and a final decision that provoked strong reactions from Croatian players and fans. According to Reuters, Croatia believed in the very final stages that it had forced extra time, but Joško Gvardiol’s goal was disallowed after a video review for offside in the move that preceded the final shot. The Guardian’s live text coverage recorded that the check included a touch by Igor Matanović before the continuation of the move, after which Mario Pašalić was judged to have influenced play from an illegal position. That left Croatia without an equaliser in the 103rd minute, while Portugal held on to its lead until the end of the match after an almost surreal finale.
Perišić opened the second half and changed the tone of the match
The first half ended without goals, but not without tension. Portugal had more possession and tried to impose its rhythm through midfield, while Croatia played more cautiously for much of the first 45 minutes, waiting for space behind the Portuguese defence. ESPN’s description of the match states that Croatia’s lead came eight minutes after the restart, when Perišić used Josip Stanišić’s cross to the far post and, with a precise finish, put Croatia ahead. That goal was the moment in which the emotional and tactical framework of the match changed: Portugal had to open up the game, while Croatia received confirmation that it could punish every opponent’s mistake.
Perišić’s goal carried additional weight because it came in a phase in which Croatia was trying to take more initiative after a more restrained opening. Until then, Portugal had looked patient but insufficiently direct in the final third of the pitch, while the Croatian defence managed to keep Ronaldo and his teammates away from the most dangerous areas. After the lead, however, the match became more open, with more space and sudden changes of tempo. That very development also suited the dramatic situations that followed, because Portugal, in search of an equaliser, began adding more speed and width to its attacking play.
Ronaldo wrote a new personal record from the spot
Portugal reached the equaliser in the 68th minute, after a penalty awarded following a VAR check. The Guardian’s coverage recorded that the reviewed situation involved Renato Veiga falling in the penalty area after a duel with Nikola Vlašić, and the referee pointed to the spot after the review. Cristiano Ronaldo took responsibility and scored for 1:1, bringing Portugal back into the match at a time when Croatia’s lead had already begun turning the nervousness in Portugal’s play into increasing pressure. Reuters also pointed out that, with that goal, Ronaldo scored the first goal of his career in the knockout stage of World Cups.
The same report also states that Ronaldo, then 41 years old, became the oldest goalscorer in the knockout stage of World Cups. That fact gave the match an additional historical layer, because two footballers who had marked almost an entire era of European and world football met on the pitch: Ronaldo on the Portuguese side and Luka Modrić on the Croatian side. Their duel was not only a sporting clash between two national teams, but also a meeting of generations approaching the end of their greatest tournament stories. Neither of them had to speak officially about farewell before the match for it to be clear how symbolic a defeat in Toronto could be for the continuation or the end of one national-team cycle.
Four disallowed goals and two shots against the woodwork
Alongside the three recognised goals, the match was marked by four disallowed goals. El País stated in its post-match report that VAR ruled out one Portuguese and three Croatian goals, including Croatia’s final attempt deep into stoppage time. The Guardian’s coverage recorded a Croatian goal that was not allowed for offside after Nikola Vlašić’s move, then a disallowed Ronaldo goal for a very tight offside, then a Croatian goal by Petar Sučić that was also stopped for offside and, finally, Gvardiol’s goal in the closing moments. The sequence of those decisions made the match extremely fragmented, but also increasingly tense, because every new check further intensified the impression that the contest was on the verge of extra time.
In addition to the disallowed goals, both national teams also had major chances off the frame of the goal. The Guardian recorded in the 58th minute that Rafael Leão struck the crossbar with a powerful shot, only a few minutes after Croatia’s lead and during a period of Portuguese pressure. In the 75th minute, Mateo Kovačić, according to the same coverage, hit the post after a run, with Diogo Costa managing to divert the ball with his fingertips before it rebounded off the goal frame. Those two moments showed how little was missing for the result to go in a completely different direction: Portugal could have equalised earlier, while Croatia could have regained the lead before the decisive finale.
Ramos decided the match after Ronaldo’s substitution
Roberto Martínez made a series of changes in the second half, and one of them proved decisive. Ronaldo went off in the 81st minute, which further underlined the importance of the Portuguese coach’s decision to look for freshness in attack through Gonçalo Ramos. The Guardian’s coverage described the decisive goal in the 90+4th minute: Rafael Leão sent the ball toward the middle of the penalty area, and Ramos imposed himself between the Croatian defenders in the air and headed home for 2:1. That goal was a reward for Portuguese pressure, but also punishment for a Croatian defence that, in the closing stages, after great physical and emotional expenditure, seriously gave way in an aerial duel for the first time.
After the match, according to Reuters, Ramos said that he loves such moments and big matches, stressing that those are the situations in which he wants to be on the pitch. His statement describes well the difference between a substitute who merely refreshes a team and a substitute who changes the course of a knockout match. Portugal did not win the match through continuous dominance, but through the ability to survive Croatian blows, draw level from a penalty and, in the finale, find a player capable of deciding the match with a single action. In such circumstances, Ramos’ goal was not only the final blow, but the moment that opened the continuation of the tournament for Portugal and left Croatia facing a long analysis of a missed opportunity.
VAR in the 103rd minute ruled against Croatia’s equaliser
The most controversial and most emotional moment of the match came in the 103rd minute, when Croatia shook the net and, for several seconds, it looked as though the match would go to extra time. According to Reuters, Gvardiol thought he had scored for 2:2, but the review showed that the ball, on its way toward the final move, had touched Matanović, which changed the assessment of offside. The Guardian’s coverage further explained that Pašalić’s role in the continuation of the move was crucial to the final decision, because after that touch he was in an illegal position. After the review, the goal was not allowed, and Portugal’s lead remained on the scoreboard.
Such decisions are especially difficult in the knockout stage because there is no room for repair. In a matter of minutes, Croatia went from almost certain elimination to an apparent return to the match, then back to final defeat. Reactions in the stands and on the pitch showed how painful the decision was, but the official result remained unchanged. Reuters reported that Croatian fans threw objects toward the pitch after the disallowed goal, while Zlatko Dalić said after the match that Croatia did not deserve such an ending and that the match should have been settled differently before the final minutes. His statement reflects the sporting reality of knockout competitions: a great fight and a good impression are not worth enough if one decision, one duel or one lost ball decides the result.
Croatia’s tournament ended after progressing through the group
Croatia entered the knockout stage as the second-placed team in Group L. UEFA’s overview of Croatia’s performance at the 2026 World Cup recalls that Zlatko Dalić’s team entered the tournament with high standards after silver in 2018 and bronze in 2022, while FIFA’s match centre confirms that the duel in Toronto was a meeting between the second-placed national teams from Groups K and L. In the group, Croatia showed enough to reach the first elimination round, but not enough stability to survive all the crisis moments against Portugal. The 2:1 defeat therefore cannot be reduced only to VAR, although the final decision will remain the most memorable detail.
Against Portugal, Croatia had periods in which it looked capable of taking control of the match, especially after Perišić’s goal and in the phase between Portugal’s equaliser and Ramos’ goal. Kovačić’s strike against the post, the disallowed goals and the pressure deep into stoppage time show that Croatia was not far from extra time. At the same time, however, Portugal had enough individual quality to punish every drop in concentration, and in the finale it showed greater efficiency at the key moment. For a national team that finished the last two World Cups on the podium, elimination in the round of 32 represents an earlier end than expectations suggested, but also a realistic reminder of the difficulty of the expanded format in which an additional knockout round brings another obstacle before the final stages.
The expanded format increased the cost of every mistake
The 2026 World Cup is the first edition of the tournament with 48 national teams and 104 matches, according to FIFA’s explanation of the format. Compared with previous editions, an additional knockout round has been introduced, meaning that national teams must pass one more elimination hurdle on the road to the title. Croatia felt precisely that new structure in Toronto: although it progressed from the group, the first match after the group stage was already against Portugal, one of the highest-quality European national teams. In such a format, the draw, group ranking and form on a single day become even more important than before.
Toronto Stadium, according to FIFA’s profile of the host city, is one of the host stadiums of the 2026 World Cup and is scheduled for six matches at the tournament. The meeting between Portugal and Croatia was its major knockout event, played before a crowd in a city with a strong football identity and numerous expatriate communities. Still, from a global perspective, the importance of the match went beyond the local framework: the duel brought together two national teams with deep European experience, two generations led by Ronaldo and Modrić, and a tournament moment in which one result changes the entire picture of the World Cup. Portugal will now play Spain for a place among the best eight, while Croatia leaves the tournament after a match that will be analysed for a long time precisely because of the way it was decided.
Portugal moves on toward Spain, Croatia is left with questions
With a 2:1 victory, Portugal secured the round of 16 match against Spain, opening one of the most high-profile European duels of the tournament so far. According to reports by ESPN, Reuters and The Guardian, Portugal’s victory was neither simple nor entirely calm, but it showed the team’s ability to come back from behind and survive late pressure. Ronaldo scored a historic goal, Ramos took on the role of the hero of the finale, and Leão, with his assist for the winning goal, confirmed how important the depth of Portugal’s squad can be in the knockout stage. For Portugal, this is a victory that brings great confidence, but also a warning before Spain, because the defence in Toronto was more than once on the verge of a serious collapse.
For Croatia, a different kind of balance remains. The team was eliminated after a great fight, Perišić’s goal, several dangerous chances and a finale in which the equaliser was only one VAR decision away. At the same time, the defeat opens questions about the future of the experienced core, about the role of younger players and about how the national team will prepare for the next cycle. Modrić’s future with the national team has not been officially clarified, so any claim of farewell remains only an assumption for now, but the match in Toronto objectively carries the weight of the possible end of one exceptional generation. Croatia exited the tournament earlier than it wanted, while Portugal extended its World Cup story thanks to a stoppage-time goal and one of the most dramatic VAR decisions of the competition so far.
Sources:
- FIFA – official match centre Portugal – Croatia, stadium, date and competition phase (link)
- FIFA – explanation of the 2026 World Cup format with 48 national teams and 104 matches (link)
- FIFA – profile of Toronto Stadium and the host city of Toronto (link)
- Reuters / The Star – report on Portugal’s victory, goals, VAR decision and post-match statements (link)
- ESPN – match summary, goalscorers and basic course of the match (link)
- The Guardian – live text coverage of the match with descriptions of the disallowed goals, shots against the woodwork and final VAR check (link)
- El País – report on four disallowed goals and Portugal’s progression to the round of 16 against Spain (link)
- UEFA – overview of the Croatian national team at the 2026 World Cup and context of results from previous World Cups (link)