+ Portugal–Spain, Monday, 9:00 PM
Dallas Stadium, Arlington, Texas
TV4/P4 Radio Sport
+ Ronaldo's last dance?
Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has achieved a lot in his career. But before the national team's round of 32 match against Croatia, the striker had never scored in a World Cup knockout match. Against Croatia, he scored a penalty to level the match at 1-1.
Now the gold favourites Spain await, in what could be Ronaldo's last World Cup match.
"Yes, definitely," he answered in November when asked if this was his last World Cup.
+ The record goalkeeper was not a certainty
Spain have kept a clean sheet in their first four World Cup matches. After their 3-0 win in the round of 32 against Austria, Unai Simón made history as the first player to go 519 minutes at a World Cup without conceding a goal. He last conceded at a World Cup against Japan in Qatar in 2022.
Despite the record, his starting spot was not a given. Behind him are Arsenal's David Raya, who kept the most clean sheets in the Premier League, and Barcelona's Joan García.
"I'm absolutely certain that we have the best goalkeeper trio in the tournament. As I said, my record could just as easily have been broken by David or Joan," Simón said ahead of the Portugal match, according to AS.
+ USA–Belgium, Tuesday, 2:00 a.m.
Seattle Stadium, Seattle, Washington
TV4/P4 Radio Sport
+ Attacking star suspended
USA forward Folarin Balogun was sent off in the round of 32 against Bosnia-Herzegovina after stamping on Tarik Muharemovic - a decision that has been controversial.
I have seen many different opinions and analyses, but personally I think a yellow card would have been reasonable, says Balogun.
The red card means that Balogun - who is the USA's leading scorer in the tournament so far with three goals - will miss the national team's round of 16 match against Belgium.
"When you're missing a player like 'Balo', things change a lot, but we've shown that we're flexible. The guys have shown that they're ready to play," said teammate Tyler Adams.
+ Belgium's heroic turnaround
It looked like Belgium would be eliminated in the round of 32 against Senegal for a long time. But after two goals in four minutes, Youri Tielemans converted a penalty in the 125th minute. The question is, was that the moment that brought Belgium to life in the World Cup?
"It's something I've never experienced as a player before. It was a lot to take in at once, and in a moment like that you really feel alive," defender Maxim De Cuyper said, according to Sporza, continuing:
The match against Senegal has given us the confidence to go even further.
