{"id":513433,"date":"2026-07-06T17:29:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T21:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.net\/en\/uncategorized\/spain-eliminates-portugal-with-a-last-gasp-goal-by-mikel-merino-and-advances-to-the-world-cup-quarterfinals\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T17:29:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T21:29:34","slug":"spain-eliminates-portugal-with-a-last-gasp-goal-by-mikel-merino-and-advances-to-the-world-cup-quarterfinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/sports\/football\/spain-eliminates-portugal-with-a-last-gasp-goal-by-mikel-merino-and-advances-to-the-world-cup-quarterfinals\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain eliminates Portugal with a last-gasp goal by Mikel Merino and advances to the World Cup quarterfinals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Arlington, United States.<\/strong>\u2013 The Spanish national team sealed its qualification for the quarterfinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after defeating Portugal 1-0 this Monday with a goal by Mikel Merino in stoppage time, in an intense Iberian derby played at AT&amp;T Stadium in Arlington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>You might be interested in<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/deportes\/futbol\/cristiano-ronaldo-desata-la-euforia-en-dallas-antes-del-duelo-entre-portugal-y-espana\/#google_vignette\">Cristiano Ronaldo sparks euphoria in Dallas before the duel between Portugal and Spain<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the match seemed destined for extra time, Merino appeared in the 91st minute to finish inside the box after an assist from Ferran Torres and unleash the celebration for the team led by Luis de la Fuente.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Spain was superior for much of the match thanks to the midfield control led by Rodri, who regained his best form and was one of the standout players of the game. However, Portugal also created danger and came close to opening the scoring in the first half with a header from Jo\u00e3o F\u00e9lix and a shot from Cristiano Ronaldo, both stopped by goalkeeper Unai Sim\u00f3n.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the second half, the Spanish team maintained the initiative and found spaces following the injury-enforced substitution of full-back Nuno Mendes, until the introduction of Mikel Merino proved to be decisive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Arsenal midfielder responded once again at a key moment, just as he did in Euro 2024, scoring the goal that qualified Spain for the next round and ended the World Cup dream of Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With this victory, Spain continues its path toward conquering a second World Cup and secures its place among the eight best teams in the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arlington, United States.\u2013 The Spanish national team sealed its qualification for the quarterfinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after defeating Portugal 1-0 this Monday with a goal by Mikel Merino in stoppage time, in an intense Iberian derby played at AT&amp;T Stadium in Arlington. You might be interested in: Cristiano Ronaldo sparks euphoria in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":514149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[40943],"tags":[43601,44182,40853,42321],"class_list":["post-513433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-breakingnews","tag-cover","tag-thetruthnewspaper","tag-world-cup"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-29zb","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/superman-gol.jpeg","dum_api":{"author_name":"EFE","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1200px-EFE_logo.svg-96x96.png","categories_name":["Football"],"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/superman-gol.jpeg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}