It has finally come to an end; Cristiano Ronaldo has competed in six World Cups, and this is his final one. The European champions, Spain, clinched the game 1-0 with a stoppage-time goal from Mikel Merino, who arrived from the bench. Spain will now go on to play Belgium in the quarter-finals on Friday in Los Angeles.
Goodbye to Cristiano Ronaldo
This was Cristiano Ronaldo’s 27th World Cup appearance, and he has scored at all six World Cups he has appeared at, holding the record. But this was a match that failed to deliver; it was a tense, cagey game where not much happened. In fact, Ronaldo was the only player in a Portuguese shirt to have a shot on target the whole match.
Spain have shown they are a team with an incredible defence structure. They are the first team in World Cup history to have six successive clean sheets, and have not conceded a goal in the competition so far. Spain are now through to the quarter-finals for the first time since they won it back in 2010 in South Africa.
