Portugal and Croatia, two sides that have met often on the game's biggest stages, square off in a World Cup knockout match in Toronto — with a place in the Round of 16 on the line.
Two runners-up, two different roads
The match is scheduled for BMO Field in Toronto, per ESPN's match listing, with both teams arriving as group runners-up. Portugal finished second in its group behind Colombia after an uneven stage that included a 5-0 rout of Uzbekistan alongside dropped points elsewhere, according to Yahoo Sports. Croatia advanced behind England, recovering from a heavy opening loss to the English to win its way through — the kind of bounce-back that has become a hallmark of a team that reached three of the last World Cup finals stages.
The stakes and the storylines
For Portugal, managed by Roberto Martinez, the knockout rounds bring familiar pressure and a familiar figure: Cristiano Ronaldo, at 41 the tournament's elder statesman, who by Yahoo's accounting has yet to score or assist in a World Cup knockout match — a statistic that hangs over the team's biggest games. For Croatia, the appeal is its tournament temperament: a side that tends to be at its most stubborn precisely when a single result decides everything.
The head-to-head favors Portugal, which has won the majority of the countries' past meetings, but recent form and Croatia's knockout pedigree make it far from a formality. The match is set to be officiated by Norway's Espen Eskås, per the preview.
What comes next
The winner advances to the Round of 16, where either Spain or Austria is the projected opponent, depending on other results. As of publication the match had not yet kicked off; this is a preview, and the Herald will report the result once it is played. Either way, one of the tournament's recognizable European names goes home, and the other plays on.
