Cristiano Ronaldo exited his final World Cup in tears as Portugal were eliminated 1-0 by Spain in the round of 16 in Arlington, Texas, on Monday.
Spain’s Mikel Merino scored the only goal of the game in the first minute of second-half stoppage time to send Spain to the quarterfinals at the expense of their Iberian Peninsula rivals.
Following the final whistle, a visibly emotional Ronaldo wiped tears from his eyes as he applauded the fans at AT&T Stadium.
The 41-year-old confirmed ahead of the game that this would be his final World Cup. Along with Lionel Messi, he became the only man to appear at six World Cups during this tournament.
He also became the first player to score in six men’s World Cups when he netted against Uzbekistan in the group stage.
“It’s about enjoying it as much as possible,” Ronaldo said in his a pre-match news conference Sunday. “This will be my last World Cup, but let’s hope tomorrow isn’t my last game.”
Ronaldo was trying to get Portugal to the quarterfinals in a second consecutive tournament for the first time. Instead, the career on soccer’s biggest stage is over for the all-time leader in international goals (146) and appearances (233).
The Al Nassr striker has yet to confirm whether this was his final game for Portugal
“The day will come [when I retire from international football],” he said Sunday. “But I’ll be honest. Whatever happens tomorrow, Cristiano will leave with a clear conscience, not 100%, but 1000%. Because I’ve given everything in football.
“I don’t need it, I have a good life, but it’s about passion. I play football because I love it … You have to enjoy every day. And I’ve scored three goals [at this World Cup], I’m not doing too badly, right?”
It was eight years ago that Ronaldo had his only World Cup hat trick in a 3-3 draw with Spain in a group stage opener that is considered one of the tournament’s best games.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner scored three times in this tournament, but didn’t have many chances against Spain’s Unai Simón, who extended his World Cup record to 609 minutes without conceding a goal.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
