Overnight World Cup — Ronaldo Breaks His Duck, Spain March On, And What It Means For Your Saturday Arvo
Available in USThree overnight results, three clean winners, no shootouts — that’s how the Round of 32 wrapped its second of three days. Spanish, Portuguese and Swiss fans all woke up to knockout-round wins, while a Croatian legend closed what is almost certainly his last World Cup. From a Sydney chair, the most interesting story is Cristiano Ronaldo finally silencing the "no knockout goals" chat, because the rest of the picture is set up for a wild R16.
Here’s the lot, in AEST-friendly order.
Spain 3-0 Austria — the cleanest machine in the tournament
Spain took care of Austria at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, and the scoreline barely tells the story. Mikel Oyarzabal bagged a brace (36′, 89′) and Pedro Porro added a third from the right channel (66′), and Spain finished with 23 shots to Austria’s five. The headline number is this: Spain are still yet to concede a goal at this tournament. Three group games plus an R32 win, zero against. Whether they’re the outright favourite or not is a conversation for the Spain price as the R16 looms — but on raw form and defensive numbers, they’re the cleanest side left in the bracket.
Their reward is the all-Iberian M93 clash with Portugal on Monday 6 July at AT&T Stadium, Arlington. That’s the tie the bracket had been pointing to for days, and now it’s locked: Spain v Portugal, Monday arvo AEST.
Portugal 2-1 Croatia — a 94th-minute winner, and one for Diogo
The Ronaldo storyline wrote itself in Toronto. Croatia went ahead through Ivan Perišić in the 53rd minute, then Ronaldo levelled from the spot in the 68th, becoming the oldest player ever to score in a World Cup knockout stage at 41. The winner came from Gonçalo Ramos, a 90+4′ header off a Rafael Leão cross — regulation stoppage time, not extra time (one Yahoo live-blog render framed the tie as going to extra time; the consensus across FIFA, ESPN, NBC and CBS holds it at 90+4′). A deep stoppage-time Gvardiol equaliser for Croatia was chalked off for offside on VAR — agonising for Croatia, decisive for Portugal.
Portugal dedicated the win to their late teammate Diogo Jota. Rúben Neves told TSN: "This victory is for him and his family." (This victory is for him and his family.)
For Australian punters the number to tuck away is the outright market move: Portugal firmed from roughly +1600 to +1300 after that win, per FanDuel via FOX (as of 3 Jul). A shortener, but not yet the favourite — France, 2.95 decimal on the Winner board, still the clear front-runner.
Switzerland 2-0 Algeria — cruise control into M96
The quietest of the three results, but a tidy one. Breel Embolo opened the scoring inside the first ten minutes, and Dan Ndoye added a second on the stroke of half-time. Switzerland’s reward is a fourth-straight R16 appearance — they meet the Colombia/Ghana winner in M96 on Tuesday 7 July at BC Place, Vancouver. The Swiss are the long-odds rankoutsider (67.00 decimal) on the Winner board, but four straight R16s is the kind of stability big nations would envy.
The script that writes itself — Modrić’s last dance ends
The line of the night sat off the pitch. Luka Modrić, 40, Croatia’s captain and the man who carried them to a 2018 final and a 2022 third place, exited what is widely reported as his final World Cup. The post-whistle photo of Modrić embracing Ronaldo — ex-Real Madrid teammates — was the kind of image that gets screenshotted for years. The picture did the talking.
The bracket — what’s confirmed and what’s still TBD
After yesterday (2 Jul), six of eight R16 pairings are confirmed:
| M# | Date (AEST) | Tie | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| M89 | Sun 6 Jul (3:00am) | Canada v Morocco | NRG Stadium, Houston |
| M90 | Sun 6 Jul (7:00am) | Paraguay v France | Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia |
| M91 | Mon 7 Jul (6:00am) | Brazil v Norway | MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford |
| M92 | Mon 7 Jul (10:00am) | Mexico v England | Estadio Azteca, Mexico City |
| M93 | Tue 8 Jul (5:00am) | Spain v Portugal | AT&T Stadium, Arlington |
| M94 | Tue 8 Jul (10:00am) | USA v Belgium | Lumen Field, Seattle |
| M95 | Wed 9 Jul (2:00am) | (AUS/EGY winner) v (ARG/CPV winner) | Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta |
| M96 | Wed 9 Jul (6:00am) | Switzerland v (COL/GHA winner) | BC Place, Vancouver |
AEST times approximate local ET +14h; the M95/M96 slots fill in after today’s three 3 Jul R32 ties (Australia v Egypt 4:00am AEST, Argentina v Cape Verde 8:00am AEST Saturday, Colombia v Ghana 11:30am AEST Saturday). The full R16 close-out is in the R16 previews hub.
- Spain 3-0 Austria (Oyarzabal 2, Porro) — Spain yet to concede at the tournament; M93 with Portugal awaits Monday.
- Portugal 2-1 Croatia (Perišić 53′; Ronaldo 68′ pen; Ramos 90+4′) — regulation, not extra time; Ronaldo’s first WC knockout goal at 41.
- Switzerland 2-0 Algeria (Embolo, Ndoye) — fourth straight R16, M96 vs Colombia/Ghana winner.
- Modrić’s tournament over — the post-whistle embrace with Ronaldo was the image of the day.
- Portugal firmed +1600 → +1300 after the win (FanDuel via FOX, 3 Jul); France still 2.95 clear favourite.
For the rest of the tournament, France’s outright price, the Golden Boot race, and the R16 previews hub are where the betting attention sits in the days ahead. SBS and SBS On Demand are running all 104 tournament matches live and free in Australia — set the alarm for the 4am AEST Socceroos kick-off, or stream it from the couch. 18+. Gamble responsibly; BetStop is there if you need it.
Results verified via FIFA, ESPN, NBC Sports, CBS Sports and SBS (as of 2026-07-03 ET). Outright odds from FanDuel via FOX (3 Jul). Editorial — not financial advice.
