Spain edge past Portugal as Merino strikes late to reach quarter-finals
FIFA WC26
0-1
Finished
0-1
Finished
Key moments
-
89'
Yellow card
BERNARDO SILVA (Portugal) is booked by -
90'+1'
Goal
Mikel MERINO (Spain) scores!! -
90'+3'
Yellow card
RENATO VEIGA (Portugal) is booked by -
90'+8'
Yellow card
Ferran TORRES (Spain) is booked by
Squads
Portugal squad
- Selected
-
1 DIOGO COSTA
Goalkeeper -
3 RUBEN DIAS
Defender -
7 CRISTIANO RONALDO
C Forward -
8 BRUNO FERNANDES
Midfielder -
11 JOAO FELIX
Forward -
13 RENATO VEIGA
Defender -
15 JOAO NEVES
Midfielder -
18 PEDRO NETO
Forward -
20 JOAO CANCELO
Defender -
23 VITINHA
Midfielder -
25 NUNO MENDES
Defender -
2 NELSON SEMEDO
Defender -
4 TOMAS ARAUJO
Defender -
5 DIOGO DALOT
Defender -
6 MATHEUS NUNES
Midfielder -
9 GONCALO RAMOS
Forward -
10 BERNARDO SILVA
Midfielder -
12 JOSE SA
Goalkeeper -
14 GONCALO INACIO
Defender -
16 FRANCISCO TRINCAO
Forward -
17 RAFAEL LEAO
Forward -
19 GONCALO GUEDES
Forward -
21 RUBEN NEVES
Midfielder -
22 RUI SILVA
Goalkeeper -
24 SAMU COSTA
Defender -
26 FRANCISCO CONCEICAO
Forward
Spain squad
- Selected
-
10 Dani OLMO
Forward -
12 Pedro PORRO
Defender -
14 Aymeric LAPORTE
Defender -
15 Alex BAENA
Midfielder -
16 RODRI
C Midfielder -
19 Lamine YAMAL
Forward -
20 PEDRI
Midfielder -
21 Mikel OYARZABAL
Forward -
22 Pau CUBARSI
Defender -
23 Unai SIMON
Goalkeeper -
24 Marc CUCURELLA
Defender -
1 David RAYA
Goalkeeper -
2 Marc PUBILL
Defender -
3 Alex GRIMALDO
Defender -
4 Eric GARCIA
Defender -
5 Marcos LLORENTE
Defender -
6 Mikel MERINO
Midfielder -
7 Ferran TORRES
Forward -
8 Fabian RUIZ
Midfielder -
9 GAVI
Midfielder -
11 Yeremy PINO
Forward -
13 Joan GARCIA
Goalkeeper -
17 Nico WILLIAMS
Forward -
18 Martin ZUBIMENDI
Midfielder -
25 Victor MUNOZ
Forward -
26 Borja IGLESIAS
Forward
Spain reached the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup with a 1-0 victory over Portugal, secured by a late goal from substitute Mikel Merino. The midfielder scored coolly in added time, ending the match as a decisive contest and eliminating Portugal from the tournament.
Merino's introduction from the bench proved pivotal, with his composed finish in the closing stages breaking Portuguese resistance in what had been a tight, goalless encounter until that point. The result sends Spain into the last eight of the competition.
- Spain beat Portugal 1-0 to reach the World Cup quarter-finals.
- Substitute Mikel Merino scored the winner in added time.
- Portugal are knocked out of the 2026 tournament.
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Originally published by BBC Sport as “Super-sub Merino delivers ‘killer goal’ for Spain”.