Portugal
Today's Talking Points
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1Portugal's World Cup ended in the round of 16, beaten 1-0 by Spain on July 6 — Mikel Merino, on as a substitute, scored deep into stoppage time to send the eventual finalists through instead. As cruel a way to go out as there is.
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2That match very likely doubled as Cristiano Ronaldo's last-ever World Cup appearance, at 41. He'd equalised from the penalty spot in the previous round against Croatia, so it's not a bad way to bow out — a goal near the very end of a 20-year international career, even if the final result didn't go his way.
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3The high point was that round of 32 win over Croatia, 2-1, settled by a Gonçalo Ramos header in the 94th minute after Ronaldo's leveller — and a controversial VAR call that chalked off what would have been a late Croatia equaliser. Proper knockout football drama.
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4Portugal went unbeaten through the group stage (a draw with DR Congo, a 5-0 win over Uzbekistan, a goalless draw with Colombia) to finish runners-up in their group, before the round of 16 brought the run to a stop against the tournament's form team.
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5For one of the traditional big footballing nations, a round of 16 exit is the kind of result that gets filed under 'quietly disappointing' rather than catastrophic — but with Ronaldo's international career very possibly now over, this tournament will be remembered for who was playing more than how far they got.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Cristiano Ronaldo, at 41, may well have played his last-ever World Cup game against Spain — scored a penalty the round before to bow out on a goal, which is more than most players get.
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Avoid saying
Don't say 'Portugal always bottle it' — they went unbeaten through the group and lost to the eventual finalists by a stoppage-time sucker punch. That's not bottling it, that's just a rough final ten minutes.