Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal survived a late Croatia storm in Toronto to trigger a mouth-watering bracket collision.
Portugal battled into the round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup with a drama-filled 2-1 victory over Croatia on Thursday night to officially set up a titanic showdown with reigning European champions Spain.
In another nerve-shredding tournament classic, Gonçalo Ramos headed Portugal into the lead in the fourth minute of stoppage time, before Croatia saw a last-gasp equaliser agonisingly ruled out for offside at Toronto's BMO Field.
Portugal's 41-year-old superstar captain Cristiano Ronaldo had earlier helped haul his squad back into the contest, burying a 68th-minute penalty to cancel out Croatia's 53rd-minute opener from Ivan Perišić. Ronaldo later joined frenzied celebrations after Ramos glanced home a sensational header deep into injury time to give the Portuguese the lead.
However, Ronaldo and his team-mates were left momentarily stunned when Joško Gvardiol prodded home an apparent equaliser deep in stoppage time. Yet, there was one final, dramatic twist when the goal was chalked off for offside after a lengthy VAR review, to the sheer disbelief of Croatia's players and their large contingent of traveling fans.
