Ronaldo breaks down in tears as Spain end Portugal's World Cup dream

Cristiano Ronaldo's dream of finally winning the World Cup came to a heartbreaking end as Spain edged past Portugal 1-0 in a tense Round of 16 clash in Dallas, with a stoppage-time strike from substitute Mikel Merino sending the European champions through to the quarter-finals.

At 41, Ronaldo had admitted this would be his final World Cup appearance, hoping to finally add the one major trophy missing from his glittering career.

His campaign, however, ends with the forward yet to find the net from open play in a knockout match across six World Cups, with his only goal in such matches coming from the penalty spot against Croatia.

The game was a tight affair from the start, with both sides feeling each other out in an uneventful opening.

Portugal's best first-half chance came when Pedro Neto's deep ball found Joao Felix, who headed into the path of Ronaldo, but his effort on goal was comfortably held by Unai Simon.

The two sides went in level at the break, with the second half following a similar pattern as Portugal focused on containing Spain's attacking threats. Spain, for their part, struggled to break down a resolute Portuguese defence, dominating possession without carving out clear openings.

Portugal made a double change just after the hour mark, introducing Rafael Leao and Diogo Dalot for Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo in search of fresh legs going forward.

But it was Spain who found the breakthrough deep into stoppage time.

Substitute Mikel Merino made an inspired run between Portugal's centre-backs in the 90+1st minute and slotted the ball into the bottom corner, sending the Spanish bench into wild celebration and sparking bedlam in Dallas.

Portugal were handed six additional minutes to find an equaliser but could not respond, and the final whistle confirmed Spain's passage to the quarter-finals while ending Ronaldo's World Cup journey for good.

An emotional Ronaldo was seen in tears at the final whistle as he walked over to thank the thousands of Portuguese fans who had turned out in Dallas, bringing the curtain down on his sixth and final World Cup campaign.

Spain, meanwhile, continue to impress at the tournament, having become the first European nation to keep clean sheets in each of their opening four matches at a World Cup since Switzerland in 2006, and are now closing in on a historic run of six consecutive World Cup clean sheets.

Watch the livestream of the match below:



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