Portugal supporters have flocked to catch a glimpse of Cristiano Ronaldo, as he and his team get set to face Croatia in their World Cup round of 32 match on Thursday in Toronto.Stephanie Scarbrough/The Associated Press
The final World Cup game in Toronto offers plenty of star power with Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Croatia’s Luka Modric centre stage at Toronto Stadium on Thursday.
The round of 32 showdown surely marks the World Cup swan song for one of them. The 41-year-old Ronaldo and 40-year-old Modric can only defy time for so long.
“They are very special players,” Portugal coach Roberto Martinez, speaking through an interpreter, said of the two captains.
“Luka Modric is a role model for so many athletes and for the new generation, for everyone who loves football,” added the Spanish-born coach. “Longevity in this sport is very important. The same goes for our captain. They’re icons of football.”
Ronaldo’s 231 caps are a men’s world record. Modric, meanwhile, is set to earn his 202nd cap Thursday.
Cathal Kelly: This World Cup could use a deep run from England
Ronaldo has already drawn a crowd in Toronto. Fans parked on the side of a city highway in the hopes of seeing the Portugal team bus go by while others lined up several rows deep outside the team hotel Wednesday to catch a glimpse of the star striker.
“It’s incredible the amount of support we have all over the world. Here in Canada once again,” Portugal midfielder Vitinha said in English.
The Portuguese men have not played in Canada since June 1995 when they beat Denmark 1-0 and drew Canada 1-1 in the SkyDome Cup.
Ronaldo and Modric, who were teammates at Real Madrid between 2012 and 2018, are both winners.
Luka Modric and his Croatian teammates have already felt the support of the Toronto crowd after playing Panama in group play.KEVIN SOUSA/Reuters
Ronaldo has claimed the Ballon d’Or five times as the world’s best player. In his nine seasons with Real Madrid, he won the Champions League (four times), the Club World Cup (three times) and UEFA Super Cups (two times) as well as the Spanish league, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup (all twice).
Now playing for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, his club resume also includes Portugal’s Sporting, England’s Manchester United and Italy’s Juventus.
Modric joined Italy’s AC Milan last July after winning 28 trophies in 13 seasons with Real Madrid: Six European Cups, six Club World Cups, five European Super Cups, four Spanish leagues, two Copas del Rey and five Spanish Super Cups.
He won the Ballon d’Or in 2018, becoming the first player since 2007 to interrupt the trophy run of Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Modric has also played for Croatia’s Dinamo Zagreb, Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Zrinjski Mostar and England’s Tottenham.
In Morocco, Canada gets the giant it sought in World Cup knockout play
Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic said the team, “will do our best and give everything that Luka continues his path onwards.”
“I can only speak positively about Luka. I know him best and what he means for us and how he sets an example to all during training,” he added through a interpreter.
The Portugal-Croatia winner will face No. 2 Spain or No. 24 Austria in the round-of-16 on July 6 in Arlington, Tex.
Fifth-ranked Portugal advanced by finishing runner-up to No. 13 Colombia in Group K at 1-0-2 with a dominant win over No. 50 Uzbekistan (5-0) sandwiched around draws with No. 46 Congo DR (1-1) and Colombia (0-0).
Ronaldo made history with a sixth-minute goal against Uzbekistan, becoming the first player to score in six editions of the World Cup. He scored again in the 39th minute.
That upped his tournament total to 10, moving past Eusébio to take sole possession of Portugal’s World Cup scoring record. But he has yet to get a goal in the knockout rounds.
In all, Ronaldo has scored 145 times for his country.
No. 11 Croatia placed second behind No. 4 England in Group L at 2-1-0, with wins over No. 34 Panama (1-0) and No. 73 Ghana (2-1 in Toronto) after an opening loss to England (4-2).
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said he expects the battle in the midfield to decide Thursday’s contest.
“The quality is on both sides but we need to reduce the errors to a minimum because they will punish us just as England did,” he said through an interpreter. “We need to raise the level of responsibility in the midfield and to give our best ... I believe we can achieve a good result.”
The Croatians have excelled at the last two World Cups under Dalic, finishing second in 2018 and third in 2022, when the Croatians beat Canada 4-1 in group play.
Portugal enters the game with a heavy heart, mourning the death of assistant coach Ricardo Carvalho’s father. And the contest comes on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the death of former Portugal star attacker Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva in a car crash.
Martinez said the Liverpool forward is always on their mind.
Croatia fans will be confident that they won't be overshadowed by supporters of Ronaldo and Portugal in Toronto.Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters
“Every day is difficult,” Martinez told reporters after Saturday’s draw with Colombia in Miami. “When you are training, there are always moments that Diogo Jota comes back in our memories.”
Canada opened World Cup play at BMO Field with a 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina on June 12. Croatia has already played in Toronto once, blanking Panama 1-0 on June 23, while Portugal crosses the border for the first time at the tournament.
Other teams to take the pitch in Toronto are Ghana, Panama (twice), Germany, the Ivory Coast, Senegal and Iraq.
The first five games in Toronto produced 12 goals and drew a total announced attendance of 215,052 to the lakefront venue.
FIFA controls the stadium through July 9. The 16,100 temporary seats and other tournament-related infrastructure in and around the venue have to be removed by 11:59 p.m. on July 31.
“It’s a big lift. … It’s significant work,” Chris Shewfelt, Toronto FC’s vice-president of business operations, said prior to the tournament. “That will be maybe one of the most challenging parts of this entire project – the deconstruction project post-[World Cup] games. It’s very accelerated.”
The Toronto Argonauts host the Calgary Stampeders at BMO Field on Aug. 6 while Toronto FC, after six straight games on the road, will entertain the New England Revolution on Aug. 15.