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World Cup: Merino's late winner for Spain dumps out PSG's Portuguese trio

On a balmy afternoon in Dallas, a late strike from the Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino was enough to power Spain past Portugal and their contingent of Paris Saint-Germain players, 1-0.
E. DEVIN
Published on 07/06/2026 at 22:00
2-minute read
Nuno Mendes and João Neves were unable to help Portugal get past Spain in Dallas

On a balmy afternoon in Dallas, a late strike from the Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino was enough to power Spain past Portugal and their contingent of Paris Saint-Germain players, 1-0. Get the latest from the World Cup with the Ligue 1 McDonald's team.

A closely-fought first half

In Dallas, a Spain side who had yet to concede in the tournament were facing Portugal off the back of their strongest performance of the tournament to date, a 3-0 humbling of Austria. Portugal, meanwhile were coming off a very nervy 2-1 comeback win over Croatia, with former Paris Saint-Germain striker Gonçalo Ramos having scored the winner in the fourth minute of added time. For this encounter, Ramos was back on the bench, but his three former teammates -- João Neves, Vitinha and Nuno Mendes -- were all in Roberto Martínez's eleven, while Fabián Ruiz came off the bench for the European champions.

Spain had the match's first chance on three minutes, with Mikel Oyarzabal testing Diogo Costa from range before the Real Sociedad man had a glorious one-on-one chance flash wide four minutes later. Costa then made a pair of fine saves from Lamine Yamal and Alex Baena on 15 minutes, and Spain continued to push, with Pau Cubarsi coming close to a goal on a free kick. Unai Simon would then make a fine save at the other end, the half concluding scoreless but not without plenty of action, with Mendes' deflected effort hitting the bar on 42 minutes.

Spanish dominance pays off

Mendes wouldn't have much longer on the pitch, though, as he was forced off through injury just before the hour. Spain pushed and prodded as they looked to take the lead, and both sides made changes with a goal in mind, with former Ligue 1 players Rafael Leão (LOSC) and Bernardo Silva coming off the bench for the Selecão. 

It was ultimately a Spanish substitute who made the difference, though, as Mikel Merino swept home what would be a decsive strike in the first minute of added time, having been found by a lovely through ball by Ferrán Torres, with Ruiz involved in the buildup as well. With the win, Spain will now face the winner between Belgium and the United States on Friday afternoon in Los Angeles.  

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