Croatia lost to Portugal in the knockout stage of the 2026 World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the decisive goal from a penalty. This was his first goal in the knockout stage of the tournament.

What happened?

Ronaldo scored the goal from a penalty in the 81st minute of the game. This was his only touch with the ball in Croatia's penalty area.

Why is this important for Croatia?

This win for Portugal meant that Croatia was eliminated from the World Cup.

What's next?

Croatia will soon face the Czech Republic in the European Championship qualifiers. | Date | Opponent | Result | | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-06-17 | England | 4-2 | | 2026-09-26 | Czech Republic | - |

And now Croatia has to recover from this loss and prepare for the next matches. But for now, Croatia has to think about what went wrong in this game. So what will Croatia change for the next matches?