The decisive moment arrived via a lanky, somewhat awkward figure surging through the centre‑forward channel—though not the one the storyline had called for. Deep in added time, Mikel Merino latched onto Ferran Torres’s pass, and with a composure that belied an otherwise chaotic contest, slotted the winner beyond Diogo Costa.
His celebration mirrored the one he produced after his match‑winning goal against Germany at the European Championship two summers ago—a dash around the corner flag, an homage to his father’s own jubilant run after netting for Osasuna in Stuttgart back in 1991.
At the opposite end, a genuine centre‑forward wilted. For Cristiano Ronaldo, this marked the finish. When the final whistle sounded, he stood gazing vacantly ahead, his own footballing mortality finally undeniable. He remains the only man to have found the net in six World Cups, yet he will not add to that tally in a future edition. At 41, the competition has truly run its course for a figure whose staying power has been extraordinary.
Ronaldo’s decline has been apparent for at least four years, dating back to that round‑of‑16 clash at the Qatar World Cup when he was dropped against Switzerland and his stand‑in, Gonçalo Ramos, struck a hat‑trick in a 6–1 victory. To claim he exited not with a roar but a murmur would be unjust—yet only because the reality was even less emphatic.
Merino slots the ball beyond the advancing Diogo Costa. Photograph: Issei Kato/Reuters
This was a farewell utterly devoid of impact, and that brings a melancholy note. Ronaldo’s self‑regard should never have been permitted to stain his legacy as it has. He was a magnificent footballer and ought not to be recalled as the burden who has hampered a Portuguese midfield brimming with potential.
Spain advanced to the last eight, yet the narrative centred entirely on Ronaldo. Even when he contributes nothing—and nowadays particularly when he offers nothing—the spotlight stays fixed on him. His showing at Sunday’s press conference was striking. There were quips, there was humour, there was a touching glimpse of a sportsman grudgingly acknowledging that the journey is nearing its close, and also, at moments, a remarkable dose of self‑pity.
The comparison is plain, perhaps too neat and in some ways unfair, yet it holds. As Lionel Messi has grown older and his physique has started to betray him, he has grown craftier, conserving his energy, adopting unorthodox positions, floating about the field like a wraith, apparently detached until the instant he suddenly inserts himself into the play.
Ronaldo, by contrast, stays mostly in the middle with his heavy‑footed movement; he is never meaningfully or effectively on the fringes. He calls for the ball incessantly. His teammates appear almost obliged to supply him. Now and then he drifts out wide or drops deep, but that only compounds the problem. The low point on Monday arrived with a counter‑attack near the end of the second half, halted when Ronaldo, lacking the speed or stamina to push forward, was forced to turn and lay the ball back to his right‑back.
Cristiano Ronaldo remonstrates with Bernardo Silva after Portugal concede a late goal. Photograph: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images
There were the familiar theatrics: bewilderingly sluggish step‑overs that merely underline how sharp he once was, shrugs and appeals to colleagues and officials, grimaces and exaggerated scowls at the world’s grand injustice, a pair of speculative attempts on goal.
There is also the curious spectacle of the Ronaldo die‑hards, who jeered Lamine Yamal and roared with indignation every time their idol hit the turf and glanced pleadingly at the official—which happened with some frequency. In the twilight of his career, Ronaldo increasingly resembles the child who owns the football and must always be humoured.
Setting Ronaldo to one side—if such a notion is even conceivable in a World Cup that has surrendered entirely to the cult of celebrity—this was a contest between two richly talented midfield departments, and for long stretches Spain held the upper hand. There is a genuine feeling that this group is beginning to gel, with Rodri gradually recapturing the form he displayed at the European Championship before damaging his anterior cruciate ligament. At moments, he controls proceedings with the disdainful composure of an adult joining a children’s kickabout.
Nuno Mendes performed admirably, once again managing to muzzle Lamine Yamal. He even rattled the crossbar with a deflected effort just ahead of the interval. But after he overextended while deflecting a Yamal strike and was forced to depart, the Barcelona youngster started to wield more sway.
Yet the concern that surfaced during the group phase, somewhat eased in the last‑32 meeting with Austria, persisted: this Spanish side lacks the sharp‑end menace of the one that featured at the Euros two years back. Lamine Yamal, possibly due to his fitness issues, has been less menacing than he was back then, and none of those deployed on the left have provided the incisiveness that Nico Williams once brought.
But Spain possessed sufficient quality, and it is they who will progress to meet either the United States or Belgium in Los Angeles on Friday.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, dogged intrusively by a television lens, trudged down the tunnel into the shadows. Railing against the fading of one’s powers is natural and can be admirable, but this was a farewell so feeble that it verged on pitiful.
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