Spain’s teenage star Lamine Yamal shared a touching moment with Cristiano Ronaldo after bringing an end to one of football’s greatest World Cup careers on Monday. Moments after Spain sealed a dramatic 1-0 victory over Portugal in the Round of 16, the 18-year-old was among the first players to make his way to Ronaldo. As the Portuguese legend stood devastated following the final whistle, Yamal embraced the 41-year-old in a gesture of respect after his sixth and final FIFA World Cup came to an emotional close. The contest in Dallas had been billed as a meeting between two generations. On one side was Yamal, the teenage sensation leading Spain’s new era. On the other stood Ronaldo, one of the greatest players in football history, making his final appearance on the World Cup stage. In the end, it was youth that prevailed. Spain booked their place in the quarter-finals thanks to Mikel Merino’s dramatic winner in the first minute of second-half stoppage time. After initially winning a free-kick, Merino quickly restarted play, continued his run into the box and finished from Ferran Torres’ pass to beat Diogo Costa and send Spain through. The victory also ended Ronaldo’s pursuit of the only major trophy missing from his glittering career. The Portuguese captain, who remains the all-time leader in men’s international football with 146 goals and 233 appearances, walked off the pitch in tears after the final whistle. His dream of guiding Portugal to a first World Cup title had once again slipped away. Ronaldo did have opportunities during the match but found Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón in inspired form. His best chance arrived in the 37th minute when João Félix’s header deflected into his path. Ronaldo improvised with an acrobatic backheel effort, but Simón recovered brilliantly to make the save. Portugal threw everything forward during a lengthy period of stoppage time, with Bernardo Silva going close to finding an equaliser, but Spain’s defence held firm to record a sixth consecutive World Cup clean sheet. For Ronaldo, the defeat marked the end of a remarkable World Cup journey that began in 2006, when Portugal reached the semi-finals. He later experienced a Round of 16 exit in 2010, a group-stage elimination in 2014, another Round of 16 defeat in 2018 and a quarter-final finish in 2022 before his final campaign ended at the same stage against Spain.
