An Iberian Derby is confirmed to be one of the highlights of the FIFA World Cup round of 16 after Thursday's results. First, in perhaps their finest match at the World Cup yet, Spain overpowered Austria 3-0, with a brace by Mikel Oyarzabal and a goal by Pedro Porro, improving sensations from the match against Uruguay and adding another clean sheet.
Hours later, the match between Portugal and Croatia was much more disputed: Portugal was much more dominant in the first half, but it was Ivan Perisic in the 53rd minute who advanced Croatia on the scoreboard. After a few goals ruled out by VAR, one by Croatia and another by Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo ended up equalising with a penalty, becoming the oldest World Cup player to score in a knockout match.
The end of the match was eventful but heart-breaking for Croatia: after Gonçalo Ramos put Portugal ahead in the 94th minute, Josko Gvardiol equalised again in the 103rd minute of injury time. However, the semi-automatic technology found out that the ball had touched Igor Matanovic on the way through, which made Mario Pasalic offside, ending Croatia's hopes (runner-up in 2018, third in 2022) and possibly putting an end to Luka Modric's career.
Spain vs. Portugal on Monday
This means that Spain and Portugal will play again on Monday, July 6, at 21:00 CEST/20:00 BST in round of 16, a new chapter on the Iberian rivalry, following Portugal's victory over Spain at the Nations League 2024/25 final, one year ago. In total, Spain and Portugal have played 41 matches (official matches including friendlies: Spain won 17 times, Portugal 7 times, and there were 17 draws.