Portugal – Croatia

In the round's main match, the opponents will trade goals.

The main clash of the World Cup's Round of 16 is planned between two European national teams. The last decade has brought success to both Portugal and Croatia. Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates won the European Championship in 2016, and in 2019 and 2025 they became UEFA Nations League champions. Luka Modrić and his crew have established themselves as "World Cup specialists". In 2018 they became World Cup runners-up, reaching the final at the Russian Mundial. In 2022 Croatia won bronze, beating the surprising Moroccans in the bronze medal match. The head-to-head meeting of the rivals at the very first stage of the knockout rounds is, on the one hand, a landmark event for the World Cup, but on the other hand, the next four stages of the tournament will be played without one of the most prominent teams. Such an epithet can be applied to both opponents. Portugal began the World Cup with a stumble. A draw with the enigmatic DR Congo then triggered a wave of criticism aimed at Roberto Martínez. At that moment no one knew that the African representative would fear no one or anything, would advance to the knockout stage, and would test the nerves of English football fans. Subsequently Portugal beat Uzbekistan 5-0 and drew with Colombia 0-0. The only real test Portugal faced in the tournament, they withstood with resolve, but it cannot be said that they seriously outperformed the Colombians in any aspect. Croatia started the World Cup with a defeat to England 2-4. England's subsequent matches showed that the Croats could have earned points if they had defended more solidly. Yet a penalty converted by Harry Kane as early as the 12th minute changed the course of the match. Despite the opening defeat, the Croats proved their strength in matches with Panama and Ghana, earning six points for Modrić and his teammates. Since 2018 Portugal and Croatia have played each other six times. All six matches featured goals from both teams. In four of the six, three goals or more were scored. There is a high likelihood that the match will be fairly even and that both teams will score again.