{"id":363123,"date":"2026-07-06T21:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T21:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/363123\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T21:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T21:39:08","slug":"late-goal-sends-spain-to-quarterfinals-ends-ronaldos-world-cup-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/363123\/","title":{"rendered":"Late goal sends Spain to quarterfinals, ends Ronaldo’s World Cup career"},"content":{"rendered":"

By SCHUYLER DIXON, AP Sports Writer<\/p>\n

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) \u2014 Mikel Merino scored in the first minute of second-half stoppage time, and Spain beat Portugal 1-0 on Monday to end the\u00a0World Cup<\/a>\u00a0career of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.<\/p>\n

Merino had just been knocked down, and a foul was called. While a Portugal player argued, Merino played the ball back in, ran toward the goal and\u00a0easily beat goalkeeper Diogo Costa<\/a>\u00a0after taking a pass from Ferran Torres.<\/p>\n

Spain advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since winning its only World Cup title in 2010 in South Africa. La Roja will play either the United States or Belgium on Friday in Inglewood, California.<\/p>\n

Ronaldo was trying to get Portugal to the quarterfinals in a second consecutive tournament for the first time. Instead, the career on soccer\u2019s biggest stage is over for the all-time leader in international goals (146) and appearances (233).<\/p>\n

\"Portugal\u2019s<\/p>\n

Portugal\u2019s Cristiano Ronaldo (7) stands during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Portugal and Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gareth Patterson)\n<\/p>\n

\"Spain\u2019s<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s Lamine Yamal (19) celebrates after Spain\u2019s Mikel Merino (6) scored their first goal during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Portugal and Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Tony Gutierrez)\n<\/p>\n

\"Spain<\/p>\n

Spain celebrates their first goal during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match against Portugal in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ashley Landis)\n<\/p>\n

\"Spain\u2019s<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s Mikel Merino (6) celebrates scoring their first goal during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Portugal and Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Sam Hodde)\n<\/p>\n

\"Spain\u2019s<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s Mikel Merino (6) celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Portugal and Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Jessica Tobias)\n<\/p>\n

\"Spain\u2019s<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s Pedro Porro, top, congrats Spain\u2019s Mikel Merino, right, after scored during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Portugal and Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Julio Cortez)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 6<\/p>\n

Portugal\u2019s Cristiano Ronaldo (7) stands during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Portugal and Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gareth Patterson)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Merino didn\u2019t enter until the 85th minute, and his heads-up play showed some of the versatility that helped Arsenal win its first Premier League title in more than 20 years this spring. He had been doubtful to make Spain\u2019s squad because of injuries that also impacted his Premier League season.<\/p>\n

The latest meeting of Iberian Peninsula rivals that first played in a friendly in Madrid 105 years ago was quite the contrast to their most recent World Cup match.<\/p>\n

It was eight years ago that Ronaldo had his only World Cup hat trick in a 3-3 draw with Spain in a group stage opener that is considered one of the tournament\u2019s best games.<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old superstar scored three times in this tournament, but didn\u2019t have many chances against Spain\u2019s Unai Sim\u00f3n, who extended his World Cup record to 609 minutes without conceding a goal. Spain became the first team to record six straight shutouts at the World Cup.<\/p>\n

See more of AP\u2019s World Cup coverage here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By SCHUYLER DIXON, AP Sports Writer ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) \u2014 Mikel Merino scored in the first minute of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151,128786,128785,128784],"class_list":["post-363123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news","tag-is-ronaldo-retiring","tag-spain-vs-portugal","tag-spain-portugal-highlights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}