Overview
Portugal's chances of winning a ticket to the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup may depend heavily on Cristiano Ronaldo. If he scores in the match at the Toronto stadium, the 41-year-old superstar will do something he has never done in his career: score in a match of the World Cup knockout round.
Coach Roberto Martinez's team only won second place in Group K after two draws against DRC and Colombia, interspersed with a 5-0 victory over Uzbekistan.
Ronaldo scored a double in the victory over Uzbekistan but could not score in the remaining two matches against DRC and Colombia. If he plays against Croatia, the striker from Al-Nassr will have his ninth knockout match at the World Cup in his career.
Notably, the owner of the five Golden Balls has never scored in any World Cup knockout matches. In the previous eight appearances, he launched 29 shots but did not score once. This is the most shots without scoring in the World Cup knockout round (calculated from 1966), equal to Roberto Carlos of Brazil.
Besides Ronaldo's scoring problem, Portugal also has many issues to improve after the group stage. Roberto Martinez's team made 1,690 passes - the most in the history of teams in the World Cup group stage - and also has an average ball possession rate of 62.5%.
However, the ability to convert opportunities is not commensurate. Except for the 2018 World Cup, this is the World Cup where Portugal has the fewest shots (37) and the fewest shots on target (12) after the group stage.
However, with one win and two draws, Portugal still maintains an unbeaten record after three matches. Historically, they have only had a streak of 4 or more unbeaten matches at a World Cup, in 1966 (4 matches) and 2006 (5 matches).
Meanwhile, Croatia started their 2026 World Cup campaign with a 2-4 defeat to England, although the two teams drew 2-2 after the first half.
However, coach Zlatko Dalic's team quickly regained their form with two consecutive victories against Panama and Ghana to win second place in Group L, thereby participating in the knockout round.
Croatia is aiming for the milestone of three consecutive victories in a major tournament for the first time since the 2018 World Cup, a tournament where they won the runner-up title after losing to France in the final.
This is also the fourth time Croatia has participated in the World Cup knockout round. Notably, they have all passed the first knockout round in the previous three times (1998, 2018 and 2022).
If he plays against Portugal, Luka Modric will have his 23rd match at the World Cup, equaling the achievement of Paolo Maldini and Manuel Neuer, and also rising to equal fifth place in the list of players with the most appearances in the history of the tournament.
Only Lionel Messi (29 matches), Cristiano Ronaldo (25 matches if playing against Croatia), Lothar Matthaus (25) and Miroslav Klose (24) have more appearances at the World Cup than the captain midfielder of Croatia.
Head-to-head record
Portugal has a superior head-to-head record against Croatia. In 10 encounters in all competitions, the "European Selecao" has only lost one match, won seven and drawn two.
Not only that, Portugal is also unbeaten in six encounters with Croatia in official tournaments, with five wins and one draw.
Score prediction: Portugal 2-1 Croatia
The match between Portugal and Croatia takes place at 6:00 AM on July 3rd (Vietnam time).
