Finally! Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 1st goal in cup knockouts

Finally! Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 1st goal in cup knockouts Cristiano Ronaldo’s search for his long-awaited first goal in a FIFA World Cup knockout match is over.  He got on the scoresheet against Croatia this Thursday (2), in a match currently underway in Canada.  And it will determine Spain’s opponent in the round of 16.  He had nearly scored one earlier... After a first half with little excitement, Croatia came back better for the second half. And scored through Perisic (53'). It was the veteran’s 39th goal for Croatia. Four straight World Cups with at least one goal to celebrate.  So far unable to shine, CR7 did score in the 61st minute, but it was ruled offside. 📸 Buda Mendes - 2026 Getty Images Then VAR awarded a penalty for a foul on Renato Veiga after a corner. And Cristiano Ronaldo — blasting it straight down the middle — ended his drought.  He now has three goals in this World Cup. Eleven in total.  He has now celebrated 146 times for his national team. And reached the 976th goal of his career.  He was substituted in the 80th minute. CR7 already had ten World Cup goals, but none in matches that decided qualification. He had not even recorded a direct goal contribution (an assist) in the previous eight such matches he played. Cristiano Ronaldo is playing in his sixth World Cup and has scored at least once in every edition.  He simply did not get the chance to play a knockout match at the Brazil edition, since Portugal went out in the group stage after finishing behind Germany and the United States.  Portugal’s best run with CR7 came at the last World Cup. He led Group G and knocked out South Korea in the round of 16 before losing to Morocco in the quarter-finals. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.