ShareCan Cristiano Ronaldo finally score a World Cup knockout goal or will Luka Modrić continue Croatia’s giant-killing streak?By Filip MishovOne legend destined for a bitter farewellPortugal’s underwhelming showing in the group stage heaped the pressure on Roberto Martínez‘s squad to deliver in the knockouts, as the Seleção only managed to defeat the 60th-ranked Uzbekistan in Froup K, while stumbling to a draw against both DR Congo and Colombia.Since Cristiano Ronaldo made his debut at the World Cup 2006, the Portuguese have reached the Round of 16 in four of the consequent five editions of the tournament, and failure to progress here would most probably signal a sour end to their greatest-ever player’s World Cup career.The bronze medallists from the 2022 finals finished a point off England in the Group L table, and even though Croatia were far from flashy, Zlatko Dalić‘s squad got the job done by winning back-to-back matches against Panama and Ghana.Now, Croatia’s goal is to continue their well-established trend of eliminating the big favourites in the knockout stag of a major tournament, something which led them to winning successive medals in 2018 and 2022.However, the resilient Croats are winless against Portugal in competitive competitive and their sole victory came back in a friendly in 2024 with Ante Budimir scoring the winner in Lisbon.Key playersDespite scoring a brace against the debutants Uzbekistan and shouting “I’m back!” to the cameras afterwards, Ronaldo (231 caps) is yet to reaffirm his difference-making ability in North America. If Portugal are to go far in the tournament, then the 41-year-old must raise his performance levels (averaging a FotMob rating of 7.3) and could go some way to doing that by scoring his first-ever World Cup knockout stage goal in this one.His teammates are going to give him the opportunities to do so, with only Senegal (28.3) and Panama (28) completing more accurate long balls (27.7) per match than Portugal so far at the tournament.Ronaldo vs. Modrić top stats at the World CupLuka Modrić displayed was not his usual self against England in Croatia’s opener, but the 40-year-old improved in the consequent matches and even provided a match-winning assist against Ghana, earning him the Player of the Match award with a FotMob rating of 8.1.As captain, Modrić reached 200 appearance for his country during the Group Stage, and Friday’s clash will be truly a unique one with the two former Real Madrid teammates being two of the only four players alongside Lionel Messi (202) and Bader Al-Mutawa (202) with more than 200 caps for their national teams.Team newsRoberto Martínez has a fullly fit squad at his disposal, but the ultimate question is whether Bernardo Silva will get the nod to return in the starting lineup over Rafael Leão or Joao Félix.Zlatko Dalić is facing a similar dilemma, with Ante Budimir being the starting striker in the last match, when it was Petar Musa who impressed in Croatia’s first two games.PredictionOn paper, Portugal must be considered as favourites going into the match given the bags of experience and talent within Roberto Martínez’s squad, but Cristiano Ronaldo & co. have been far from impressive so far, and Croatia are well known for upping their performances when it comes to knockout football.I expect a dramatic and close match, potentially going to extra time and even to penalties, with either Dominik Livakovic or Diogo Costa deciding the final outcome.(Cover image from IMAGO)You can follow every game from at the World Cup with FotMob – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, player ratings. Download the free app here.Add FotMob as a preferred news source on Google by clicking – here.Can Cristiano Ronaldo finally score a World Cup knockout goal or will Luka Modrić continue Croatia’s giant-killing streak?By Filip MishovOne legend destined for a bitter farewellPortugal’s underwhelming showing in the group stage heaped the pressure on Roberto Martínez‘s squad to deliver in the knockouts, as the Seleção only managed to defeat the 60th-ranked Uzbekistan in Froup K, while stumbling to a draw against both DR Congo and Colombia.Since Cristiano Ronaldo made his debut at the World Cup 2006, the Portuguese have reached the Round of 16 in four of the consequent five editions of the tournament, and failure to progress here would most probably signal a sour end to their greatest-ever player’s World Cup career.The bronze medallists from the 2022 finals finished a point off England in the Group L table, and even though Croatia were far from flashy, Zlatko Dalić‘s squad got the job done by winning back-to-back matches against Panama and Ghana.Now, Croatia’s goal is to continue their well-established trend of eliminating the big favourites in the knockout stag of a major tournament, something which led them to winning successive medals in 2018 and 2022.However, the resilient Croats are winless against Portugal in competitive competitive and their sole victory came back in a friendly in 2024 with Ante Budimir scoring the winner in Lisbon.Key playersDespite scoring a brace against the debutants Uzbekistan and shouting “I’m back!” to the cameras afterwards, Ronaldo (231 caps) is yet to reaffirm his difference-making ability in North America. If Portugal are to go far in the tournament, then the 41-year-old must raise his performance levels (averaging a FotMob rating of 7.3) and could go some way to doing that by scoring his first-ever World Cup knockout stage goal in this one.His teammates are going to give him the opportunities to do so, with only Senegal (28.3) and Panama (28) completing more accurate long balls (27.7) per match than Portugal so far at the tournament.Ronaldo vs. Modrić top stats at the World CupLuka Modrić displayed was not his usual self against England in Croatia’s opener, but the 40-year-old improved in the consequent matches and even provided a match-winning assist against Ghana, earning him the Player of the Match award with a FotMob rating of 8.1.As captain, Modrić reached 200 appearance for his country during the Group Stage, and Friday’s clash will be truly a unique one with the two former Real Madrid teammates being two of the only four players alongside Lionel Messi (202) and Bader Al-Mutawa (202) with more than 200 caps for their national teams.Team newsRoberto Martínez has a fullly fit squad at his disposal, but the ultimate question is whether Bernardo Silva will get the nod to return in the starting lineup over Rafael Leão or Joao Félix.Zlatko Dalić is facing a similar dilemma, with Ante Budimir being the starting striker in the last match, when it was Petar Musa who impressed in Croatia’s first two games.PredictionOn paper, Portugal must be considered as favourites going into the match given the bags of experience and talent within Roberto Martínez’s squad, but Cristiano Ronaldo & co. have been far from impressive so far, and Croatia are well known for upping their performances when it comes to knockout football.I expect a dramatic and close match, potentially going to extra time and even to penalties, with either Dominik Livakovic or Diogo Costa deciding the final outcome.(Cover image from IMAGO)You can follow every game from at the World Cup with FotMob – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, player ratings. Download the free app here.Add FotMob as a preferred news source on Google by clicking – here.