The positive feelings of Cristiano Ronaldo on the eve of the match, during the press conference ("I think we will win"), turned out to be wrong - and in a rather cruel way. Spain wins with a goal in stoppage time. A goal that, in all probability, closes CR7's international career.
In the end, this match against Spain will probably be remembered more for the number seven's farewell to the big stage than for his performance: hands on hips, sighs, little speed or spark, and, in the end, despair after conceding the goal.
CR7's match began right away with whistles - more out of fear than anything else - from the opposing fans when he appeared on the big screen at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The anthems played, and emotions ran high, almost to the point of tears, when the photo of Diogo Jota was shown right after the Portuguese anthem.
Then a little scene with the referees for the customary pre-match photo: he and Rodri seemed unsure what to do. "Are we doing it? Are we not?" Finally, the photo was taken, and the match began.
It looked like the usual Ronaldo: jogging around the opposition's final third waiting for a playable ball, moving between the lines, and watching his teammates defend from a distance.
Portugal almost collapsed as early as the eighth minute, when Mikel Oyarzabal broke through in front of Diogo Costa but wasted a golden opportunity. CR7 put his hands on his hips, almost as if to ask: "What are we doing?"
Spain controlled the game, and when Portugal tried to counter, Ronaldo got involved: first, he tried to dribble past two opponents, then, in the next play, he went down in the box after a corner and protested to the referee about being held by Rodri. Nothing doing: no penalty, play continues.
The player who has scored in the most World Cup editions (six) tried to go it alone in the 12th minute: a double step-over and a shot, but Unai Simon denied him.
Ronaldo never really seemed to get into the heart of the game, also because Spain was dictating the tempo. The Spaniards nearly took the lead in the 30th minute, when Dani Olmo, with a header, incredibly missed the target. CR7 was right there defending and immediately after had a word with his goalkeeper, probably over a marking mix-up.
But the decisive moment can come at any time, and in the 37th minute, Cristiano worried the opposing defence with an acrobatic deflection that forced Unai Simon, late and out of position, into a spectacular save to keep the score at 0-0. Cristiano responded with a cheeky tongue-out, Del Piero style.
The first half ended with just two shots and an xG of 0.19. Far too little for a player like him. In the second 45 minutes, he could have troubled Unai Simon only if Pedro Neto, in the 51st minute, had delivered a better cross to the far post.
CR7 was not satisfied and went back to sighing with his hands on his hips.
Eight minutes later, in the box, he collected a nice cross-field ball from the left, but couldn't get either power or accuracy on it. He smiled and seemed to ask his teammate for help in understanding the opponents' marking positions.
The match drifted on with Cristiano's little runs and the occasional sprint to press the opposing goalkeeper. Everything seemed to be heading for extra time, but in the first minute of stoppage time came the cold shower that broke the routine of the Portuguese's match: Merino scored, and Ronaldo lashed out at his teammates.
They played out the added time trying to get back into the game, and Bernardo Silva had the chance to equalise with a header, but it went over the bar.
All that was left for CR7 was to collect the ball from the back of the net to restart play immediately. But there was no more time. The final whistle gave the Spaniards qualification and marked the end of Cristiano Ronaldo's record-breaking World Cup career.