Cristiano Ronaldo Breaks Down In Tears As FIFA World Cup Career Ends After Loss Against Spain - Watch
Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup career came to an end as Portugal crashed out of FIFA World Cup 2026 following a loss against Spain.
- Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup career came to an end as Portugal crashed out of FIFA World Cup 2026
- Substitute Mikel Merino scored late in the second half stoppage time as Spain registered a narrow 1-0 victory
- Following the final whistle, Ronaldo was visibly emotional as he could not control his tears
Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup career came to an end as Portugal crashed out of FIFA World Cup 2026 following a loss against Spain. Substitute Mikel Merino scored late in the second half stoppage time as Spain registered a narrow 1-0 victory in the Round of 16 clash. Ronaldo, who first played in the 2006 edition, announced ahead of the game that this World Cup will be his last. Following the final whistle, the Portuguese superstar was visibly emotional as he could not control his tears. He was consoled by some of his Portugal teammates while the crowd cheered the superstar footballer in Dallas.
Ronaldo didn't lose against Spain, Portugal did
— 𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐬 (@NikolasRMFC) July 6, 2026
This is the End ! pic.twitter.com/6fvT5kKSQ0
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 football's biggest stage is over for the all-time leader in international goals.
Spain broke a World Cup record with its sixth consecutive clean sheet and goalkeeper Unai Simón extended his record shutout streak to 609 minutes.
Spain broke its tie with Italy (1990) and Switzerland (2006-10) for the most consecutive World Cup matches not allowing a goal. Spain's streak began with a 0-0 draw in the round of 16 in 2022, when Morocco advanced after a penalty shootout.
Cristiano Ronaldo recreated his iconic walkpic.twitter.com/FkbwFCLFLQ
— MC (@CrewsMat10) July 6, 2026
There was also a surprising scoreless draw against Cape Verde to open group play in this tournament followed by four consecutive shutout victories to advance to the quarterfinals.
Simón surpassed the previous record of 517 consecutive scoreless minutes during a 3-0 blanking of Austria to open the knockout round Thursday. Famed Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga set the standard in 1990 with five consecutive clean sheets in his home World Cup.
Simon's shutout streak started in 2022 in Qatar during a 2-1 loss to Japan to wrap up group play.
This video is so hard to watch, Ronaldo doesn't deserve thispic.twitter.com/I8QUm4avHe
— Twilight (@the_marcoli_boy) July 6, 2026
He came into the Portugal game having made only four saves in this World Cup — Austria had no shots on target — and on Monday in Arlington Simón had to make two saves in the first half against Portugal, both on shots by Cristiano Ronaldo.
The second of those saves was an impressive diving stop, when he was still in mid air after reaching back to grab the ball with both hands. Ronaldo took that shot after teammate Jose Sa's header went off the shoulder of the 29-year-old Athletic Bilbao keeper.
(With AP inputs)
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