Spain win the Iberian derby to knock Portugal out (0-1): Merino the injury-time hero
A tense, goalless Iberian derby was broken open in the 90+1st minute: Mikel Merino, on for barely five minutes, turned in a cross from fellow substitute Ferran Torres to send Spain into the quarter-finals and send Portugal home. La Roja dominated (56% possession, 15 shots to 9) but needed stoppage time to break the Portuguese wall at AT&T Stadium. Cristiano Ronaldo bows out of the World Cup.
Spain reached the 2026 World Cup quarter-finals with a goal in the dying breath of an Iberian derby that had held out for 90 minutes. At the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, La Roja downed Portugal (0-1) through Mikel Merino in the 90+1st minute, just as the tie was drifting towards extra time. It was a cruel ending for a disciplined Portugal and a fair reward for a Spain side that had bossed the game without finding the net.
Luis de la Fuente set up a 4-2-3-1 with Unai Simón in goal, Pedro Porro and Cucurella at full-back, Cubarsí and Laporte in the centre, the Rodri-Pedri pairing in midfield and a creative trident of Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo and Álex Baena behind Oyarzabal. Opposite them, Roberto Martínez went with another 4-2-3-1 with Diogo Costa in goal, Rúben Dias and Renato Veiga as centre-backs, João Neves and Vitinha in the engine room and Cristiano Ronaldo leading an attack completed by Pedro Neto, Bruno Fernandes and João Félix.
The match was a battle of patience. Spain piled up possession (56%) and chances —finishing with 15 shots to 9 and six on target to two— but ran again and again into a deep-lying Portugal and a providential Diogo Costa, who made five saves. The Portuguese, faithful to their plan, barely troubled Unai Simón and pinned their hopes on defensive solidity and the odd Ronaldo strike that never came.
With the score at 0-0 and the clock ticking towards extra time, De la Fuente turned to his bench and got it spot on. Ferran Torres had come on in the 75th for Baena and Merino in the 85th for Dani Olmo; it was precisely those two substitutes who settled it. In the 90+1, Ferran floated a ball into the box and Mikel Merino arrived to bundle it home and spark red delirium. There was no time for more: a stunned Portugal could not respond.
Merino, named man of the match with an 8.2, becomes the unlikely hero of a night Spain will remember for their belief until the very last second. La Roja march into the quarter-finals, where they will await the winner of the United States-Belgium tie. Portugal, meanwhile, bow out of the World Cup: for Cristiano Ronaldo, at 41, it is very probably a final farewell to the great tournament he never conquered.