Cristiano Ronaldo scores 1st knockout goal of World Cup career in round of 32 win vs. Croatia

TORONTO (AP) — Goncalo Ramos headed in a pass from Rafael Leao in stoppage time as Cristiano Ronaldo, who had earlier converted a penalty kick, watched from the bench as Portugal defeated Croatia 2-1 on Thursday, ending Luka Modrić’s fifth bid for a World Cup.

Ronaldo initially tied things up in the 68th minute on a penalty kick to equalize and give the megastar his first knockout stage goal at the World Cup, but it was Ramos who gave Portugal the victory.

The game ended in controversy as Croatia thought it had tied things up 2-2 in the very last moments, but Mario Pasalic was called offside as VAR ruled no goal. Croatia fans threw bottles on the field and whistled in protest.

Croatia opened the scoring in the 53rd minute when Ivan Perisic scored in the 53rd minute off a cross from Josip Sanisic.

Portugal moves on to face Spain on Monday in the round of 16. The game will be contested at noon MST in AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Modrić led Croatia to second- and third-place finishes in 2018 and 2022 but could not reach those heights this time around.

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