Picture : The goal of the game was scored by Spain’s Mikel Merino !
World Cup 2026 Statistics – Day 26 (July 6) – Round of 16
Portugal vs Spain 0-1
*Spain has qualified for the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2010 (when they also eliminated Portugal in the Round of 16).
*Spain are now without defeat in their last 35 matches (26 wins, 9 draws), equaling their longest ever unbeaten run (35 matches from February 2007 to June 2009).
They are 2 matches away from tying Italy’s world record (37 games).
*Spain are the first team in the tournament’s history to keep a clean sheet in 6 consecutive World Cup games (1 in 2022 and 5 in 2026). They haven’t conceded a goal since the match against Japan on 1 December 2022.
Spain’s run surpassed the five in a row from Italy (1990) and Switzerland (4 in 2006, 1 in 2010).
*Unai Simón has now gone 609 minutes without conceding at the World Cup, extending his record for the longest such streak by a goalkeeper in the tournament’s history.
*Simón has now 7 clean sheets in World Cup (out of 9 games). He is now the Spanish goalkeeper with the joint-most clean sheets in the competition, along with Iker Casillas (7 out of 17 games).
*Simón has conceded goals in only 1 of his last 13 matches for Spain (2 goals vs Turkey).
*The Spain’s run without conceding goals in World Cup coincides with the Simon’s personal (609 minutes).
Spain have beaten the streaks of Switzerland (557 minutes) and Italy (550), both achieved with different goalkeepers.
*Spain have won a World Cup or Euro match thanks to a stoppage-time goal (be Mikel Merino in 90+1st minute) for the 3rd time in their history, after: Alfonso against Yugoslavia at Euro 2000 (group stage, 90’+5′),
David Villa against Sweden at Euro 2008 (group stage, 90’+2′).
This Merino’s goal marks the first time in a World Cup and the first time in a knockout-stage match.
*Cristiano Ronaldo has played his 27th and final World Cup game for Portugal.
*Cristiano Ronaldo is the second player to start 25 World Cup matches, along with Lionel Messi (27).
*In his career, Cristiano Ronaldo failed to make any goal involvement in the 9 World Cup matches he has played from the Round of 16 onwards (0 goals, 0 assists).
*This defeat vs Spain became the 8th for CR7 in World Cups. Thus, he joined the group of players with the most World Cup defeats (8) that includes also:
Antonio Carbajal (Mexico)
Hong Myung-bo (South Korea)
Son Heung-min (South Korea)
Mathew Leckie (Australia)
*It was the 2nd World Cup match in history between Spanish head coaches (Luis de la Fuente and Roberto Martínez), after Spain vs Bolivia (3-1) in 1994.
Javier Clemente was then the Spain’s coach, Xabier Azkargorta the Bolivia’s.
*Luis de la Fuente became the third coach to remain unbeaten (11 wins, 1 draw) in his first 12 major tournament matches (World Cup and Euro) with a European national team, following Aimé Jacquet (with France) and Louis van Gaal (with Netherlands).
*No head coach has ever succeeded in eliminating their country of birth during a World Cup knockout stage match in seven attempts. Roberto Martínez was the last to try it with Portugal against his native Spain.
The precedents:
József Nagy (Sweden) vs Hungary (1-5) in 1938
Karl Rappan (Switzerland) vs Austria (5-7) in 1954
Didi (Peru) vs Brazil (2-4) in 1970
Ricardo La Volpe (Mexico) vs Argentina (1-2) in 2006
Walid Regragui (Morocco) vs France (0-2) in 2022
Vladimir Petković (Algeria) vs Switzerland (0-2) in 2026