Portugal vs Croatia: FIFA World Cup – Ronaldo-Modric, prediction, team news

Published 2 July 2026 · sports

A last-16 meeting against either Spain or Austria awaits the winners of the round of 32 clash in Toronto. Click here to share on social

A last-16 meeting against either Spain or Austria awaits the winners of the round of 32 clash in Toronto. Click here to share on social media How can your team reach the final and win World Cup 2026? Click here to find out. Who: Portugal vs Croatia What: FIFA World Cup 2026 – round of 32 Where: Toronto Stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada When: Thursday at 7pm (23:00 GMT) How to follow: We will have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 20:00 GMT before our live text commentary stream. Portugal play Croatia in Toronto in a game that could mark the final career World Cup match for either 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo or his former Real Madrid teammate and veteran Croatian midfielder 40-year-old Luka Modric. Croatia have again shown the resilience that has marked their recent World Cup runs, recovering from an opening loss to England with a 1-0 victory over Panama and a 2-1 win against Ghana. Portugal, meanwhile, have underwhelmed with just one win and two draws in the group stage and Ronaldo looking well off the pace. A last-16 meeting against either Spain or Austria awaits the winners in Toronto. But for one of football’s all-time greats, the World Cup curtain will come down in Canada. Ageing stars Ronaldo, Modric clash Ronaldo and Modric will make history when two outfield players aged over 40 face off for the first time in a World Cup.

But both men are facing questions over whether their status as national heroes is now more of a burden than a boost to their countries’ hopes of progressing far in the competition. Before this tournament, only Cameroon’s Roger Milla had played in a World Cup as an outfield player after turning 40. At 41, Ronaldo defiantly screamed, “I’m back,” after netting twice against Uzbekistan as he became the first player to ever score at six World Cups. Yet either side of a 5-0 romp over a team ranked 60th in the world, Portugal failed to beat the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Colombia and fell into a tougher section of the draw as a result. Ronaldo played every minute of the group stages, and outgoing Portugal boss Roberto Martinez shows no sign of taking the bold call to sit the five-time Ballon d’Or-winning forward on the bench. “There is not an issue physically or mentally for Cristiano in today’s game to play the 90 minutes,” Martinez said after Ronaldo managed just two touches in the Colombia box. Modric struggles in fifth World Cup Modric, 40, similarly showed his age in Croatia’s tournament opener, which ended in a 4-2 defeat to England in Dallas, Texas. Caught on his heels, Modric conceded a penalty when chopping down Noni Madueke for England’s opening goal and was sacrificed by coach Zlatko Dalic before the hour mark.