Mikel Merino scored seconds into second-half stoppage time, and Spain beat Portugal 1-0 on Monday to end the World Cup career of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
Merino had just been knocked down, and a foul was called. While a Portugal player argued, Merino played the ball back in, ran toward the goal and put a shot past goalkeeper Diogo Costa after taking a pass from Ferran Torres.
Spain advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since winning its only World Cup title in 2010 in South Africa. Spain will play either the United States or Belgium on Friday in Los Angeles.
Ronaldo was trying to get Portugal to the quarterfinals in a second consecutive tournament for the first time. Instead, the career on soccer’s biggest stage is over for the all-time leader in international goals.
Meanwhile, England produced their best display of the World Cup amid the passion and emotion of the Azteca Stadium to secure a dramatic victory over Mexico and set up a quarter-final against Norway.
On a night of sheer sporting theatre, with the game delayed by an hour because of severe storms, Thomas Tuchel’s side even survived Jarell Quansah’s red card early in the second half to record one of their finest wins in recent years.
Mexico had lost only two of 89 competitive games at their Azteca fortress, but England’s cool approach early on allowed them to take command when the outstanding Jude Bellingham scored twice in the space of 98 seconds before half-time.
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was in superb form, twice saving brilliantly from Raul Jimenez, but he was powerless to stop Julian Quinones pulling a goal back for Mexico with a powerful finish three minutes before the break.
Mexico were being driven forward by a constant cacophony of sound, which increased when Quansah was sent off for a high challenge on Jesus Gallardo, but England restored their two-goal lead when Harry Kane scored from the spot after Anthony Gordon was brought down by keeper Raul Rangel.
Just when England thought they had restored order, Kane was the culprit when he kicked Brian Gutierrez’s foot in the area, Jimenez scoring the resulting spot-kick.
With England under pressure and in frantic atmosphere, Tuchel brought on Dan Burn and Djed Spence, reverting to a five-man defence to see out 11 minutes of stoppage time for a superb win.
