Spain wins epically and qualifies for the quarterfinals with a goal in the final minutes, sending Cristiano's Portugal home: Spain's rival in the quarterfinals will be Belgium

This Monday, July 6, the Spanish national team played its round of 16 match in this World Cup against one of the candidate teams, Portugal. The match kicked off at 9:00 PM (Spanish time), with the entire football world attentive to such an encounter.

The match was expected to be very even, and it was, as during parts of the match one team dominated and in other parts the other team. At the beginning, Spain started better, with more intensity and several chances, especially a one-on-one by Mikel Oyarzábal, who was not accurate in front of goal. However, Spain's game was good, disputing the ball with one of the teams with the best ball handling, Portugal. They gradually improved in the match and in the final stretch of the first half, they changed the script of the match and were clear dominators, creating some danger, with a ball hitting the crossbar.

After coming out of the locker room, the match continued with the same script, that is, much equality in possession and control of the game and few chances from both sides. It is true that Spain did know how to be more vertical and although they did not manage to finish chances, they had many dangerous approaches where only the final pass was missing. In addition, Portugal did not manage to activate their striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who could barely enjoy any chances due to the good work of the Spanish defenders, Pau Cubarsí and Aymeric Laporte.

With this, it seemed that the duel between the teams of the Iberian Peninsula would go to extra time, however, in the ninetieth minute, when only added time remained, a very good play of quick passes by Spain, with a masterful final pass from Ferrán Torres to Mikel Merino, who finished perfectly against the Portuguese goalkeeper, scoring the final 0-1 that would give Spain the victory and qualification to the World Cup quarterfinals.

Spain has managed to eliminate one of the best teams, without playing their best football, so if they manage to reach their maximum level, there are reasons to be very excited about this team. In addition, they still haven't conceded a single goal in this tournament, extending the record of minutes with a clean sheet that was already achieved in the previous match. Portugal said goodbye to this World Cup, with bad feelings, and in tears, especially those of their captain Cristiano Ronaldo, who played his last World Cup.

Spain now knows who its rival will be in the quarterfinals. The rival came from the controversial match between the United States and Belgium. Finally, it was the Belgians who dominated the game and crushed their rival 4-1, leaving them out of their World Cup, so the Europeans will face the Spanish national team, which will seek to continue making history and be able to play in its second semifinal in history.