Cristiano Ronaldo had 81 minutes on the pitch and had one touch of the ball in the penalty area. It was a penalty earned by somebody else and he scored it. Goncalo Ramos had nine minutes (plus added time) on the pitch without Ronaldo, had two touches of the ball in the box and scored an exquisite header to win the tie.
This may seem very churlish. In Toronto on Thursday night, Portugal and Croatia produced the best match of a World Cup that is quickly becoming an all-timer. There was almost too much to process: Luka Modric’s swansong, Croatia’s last hurrah, two fractional VAR offsides, a penalty, another late winner and a later equaliser ruled out via Snicko, taken straight from cricket. You can picture the referee telling them to “rock and roll” the replay.
GOAL DISALLOWED ❌Croatia thought they'd equalised against Portugal to take the match to extra time, but after VAR review, it was disallowed! pic.twitter.com/jlqNHpzp5s— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 3, 2026
But then that is what Ronaldo does. He has the gravitational pull of a small planet and into his orbit is pulled all narrative. And when he spends the vast majority of matches not doing anything close to goal and then his replacement scores a fabulous header, it does beg the question of who really is in charge here.
