Ronaldo, at 41, Sent Modrić Home, and Croatia Left Feeling They'd Been Robbed

At BMO Field in Toronto, two legends who played 222 matches together in a Real Madrid shirt collided, this time on opposite sides. Portugal beat Croatia 2:1 in the World Cup round of 16 and advanced. Ivan Perišić put the Croats ahead in the 53rd minute, but Ronaldo equalized from the penalty spot in the 68th after Vlašić brought down Veiga in the box. Coach Roberto Martínez took Ronaldo off in the 81st, and it was substitute Gonçalo Ramos who headed in the winner in the 94th minute off a Leão cross. For Ronaldo this is a first goal in a World Cup knockout stage after an eight-match drought - and another record, the oldest player on the pitch in the history of the tournament.

Kane Saved England in the Final Minutes, Mexico Up Next

England had a night in which they nearly went out against DR Congo, a team no one outside expert circles saw as a threat. Brian Cipenga shocked the English with a goal as early as the 7th minute, and until the 75th it looked like the favorite would go home. Then Harry Kane woke up: a header for 1:1, then a second in the 85th after a Bellingham shot was blocked. Final score 2:1 and a spot against hosts Mexico. Coach Thomas Tuchel changed half his attack at halftime to turn the night around - which tells you that even England with all its stars isn't sure it'll get through this tournament easily.

Man City Paid 116 Million Pounds for Elliot Anderson - a New Club Record

While the world was watching football at the World Cup, Manchester City quietly broke its own transfer record. English midfielder Elliot Anderson arrived from Nottingham Forest for 116 million pounds, more than the 100 million the club paid for Jack Grealish in 2021. The deal is for five years, with a salary of around 300,000 pounds a week. Last season Anderson was first among Premier League midfielders in completed and accurate forward passes. Numbers that sound like an advert - but also a reminder that the club that spends more than everyone rarely goes without what it set its sights on.

Modrić Left With a Message the Balkans Won't Forget

For the Balkans, this round of 16 wasn't about Portugal. It was about Luka Modrić, who at 40 most likely played his last match for the Croatian national team. The man who carried the „fiery” generation to the final in 2018 and to bronze in 2022 left standing tall, after the team left everything on the pitch. Modrić didn't finish with tears and apologies, but with a message of defiance and dignity that echoed across the whole region. A career these lands rarely produce, and even more rarely send off as it deserves.

Croatia Left Furious at VAR: „It's Used Selectively According to the Size of the Team”

The Croats didn't just leave sad, but also angry. In the closing stages a goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR intervention, in a match that already had a first half of disallowed goals and the kind of chaos rarely remembered. After the game Modrić didn't hold back: „VAR is used selectively, depending on the size of the team” - a claim that small national teams never get the same mercy from the technology as the giants do. Is he right, or is it the anger of defeat talking? The question is nothing new in these parts, where the feeling that the rules apply differently to the big and the small is familiar far beyond football.