Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal face Croatia in Toronto in the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Having finished second in Group K behind Colombia, Portugal don't come into the tie in the best of form (1W, 2D) while Croatia have eked out two wins (and a loss) on their way to a second-place finish in Group L. The form, and the pressure that always surrounds Ronaldo (and in much lesser degree, Luka Modric) should make for fascinating viewing.
The winner of this match will face the winner of Spain vs Austria in the round of 16.
Here's everything you need to know about Wednesday's game.
How to watch:
The match will be available on BBC One in the UK, Fox Sports in the U.S., Zee5 in India and SBS in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Date, kick-off time:
U.S. ET: 7 p.m. Thursday, July 2
UK BST: 12 a.m. Friday, July 3
India IST: 4:30 a.m. Friday July 3
Australia AEST: 9 a.m. Friday, July 3
Venue: BMO Field, Toronto
Referee: TBC
Team News
Portugal
Diogo Costa
João Cancelo | Rúben Dias | Renato Veiga | Nuno Mendes
João Neves | Vitinha
Pedro Neto | Bruno Fernandes | João Félix
Cristiano Ronaldo
Croatia
Dominik Livakovic
Josip Stanisic | Josip Sutalo | Marin Pongracic | Ivan Perisic
Mateo Kovacic | Luka Modric
Petar Sucic | Nikola Vlasic | Martin Baturina
Ante Budimir
Talking Points
The Cristiano Ronaldo question -- can he deliver in a World Cup knockout game?
Cristiano Ronaldo may be one of only two men who have played at six World Cups (Lionel Messi being the other, of course), but there is a deficiency in that record that he will be desperate to address -- Ronaldo has zero goals (and zero assists) in the knockout stages of World Cup football.
This is a record that will be under sharper highlight than ever before, for he's been far from convincing so far at the 2026 World Cup. Two goals vs Uzbekistan (and a declaration of "I'm back") was sandwiched by dull, goalless displays against Congo DR and Colombia, and having played every minute of all three games, the scrutiny is high. If he can break his duck against a defence as stubborn as Croatia's, the questions will subside and the paeans will rise again, but if he doesn't, this could be his last shot at the one trophy missing from his cabinet.
Roberto Martinez is under considerable pressure -- both for his over dependence on an ageing Ronaldo and mismanagement of the considerable midfield resources at his disposal and Croatia could prove a prickly test of his managerial nous.
Are Croatia still a nightmare to face in major tournament knockouts?
Two penalty shootouts, and a one goal win got Croatia to the final of the 2018 World Cup. Two penalty shootouts got them to the semifinal in 2022. They may have some of the best midfielders in the world on their squad, but over the past decade, Croatia have mastered the art of snuffing the creativity out of games and controlling outcomes in the risk-heavy atmosphere of major tournament knockouts. Regardless of the form you face them in, they often times just a find a way to stop you and drag them to penalty shootouts where they invariably win -- and the problem for Portugal is that they aren't in the best kind of form themselves.
This is an ageing squad -- with a few young talents being blooded in by Dalic (especially in a few of the attacking positions) -- and they have already shown they can do just enough to get over the line in the Group Stages (single goal wins vs Panama and Ghana) ...But are they still good enough to do it in the knockouts all over again?