Portugal knocked Croatia out of the 2026 World Cup with a 2-1 victory, and the cameras caught what might be the tournament’s most human moment so far. Cristiano Ronaldo, still chasing glory at this stage of his career, walked over to embrace Luka Modric, his former Real Madrid teammate, who was almost certainly playing his final World Cup match at age 40 with over 200 caps to his name.
The crypto connections running through both squads
Ronaldo’s relationship with Binance is well-documented at this point. His CR7 NFT collections, including the CR7 ForeverZone series, have continued releasing new digital collectibles into 2026.
Modric, meanwhile, took a different path into the space. In April 2026, just months before the World Cup kicked off, he signed on as a global brand ambassador for CoinW, a crypto exchange. The deal was designed to leverage Modric’s international profile heading into the tournament, with a focus on community-driven fan tokens built on Solana.
Fan tokens are riding the tournament wave
