And then he walked out at AT&T Stadium in Dallas against Spain, against Lamine Yamal, against the country that has defined European football for the better part of two decades, with everything riding on 90 minutes in Texas. Going into the match the soccer odds had Spain as clear favourites going in, Portugal priced at +300 to win in 90 minutes, and if you have been following the Selecção at this tournament those numbers were hard to argue with. The soccer odds were right. Spain won 1-0, Mikel Merino coming off the bench to score in the 91st minute, and Ronaldo's World Cup is over.

When Ronaldo made his World Cup debut in 2006, Lamine Yamal was not yet born. That fact has been repeated so many times in the buildup to today that it has almost lost its impact, but stop and sit with it for a second. Ronaldo has been to six World Cups. He has been doing this since before Spain's most dangerous attacking player existed as a person. And today they are on the same pitch, one at the end of something extraordinary and one at the absolute beginning, and Portugal's entire World Cup depends on how that dynamic plays out.

The Path That Got Them Here

Portugal's tournament has been messy and brilliant in roughly equal measure, which is about what you expect from a Roberto Martínez side. Drawing with DR Congo during the group stage was a match that should have been theirs from the get-go. Uzbekistan was a comfortable 5-0 win, but not really a test some would say. Against Columbia they drew again, and it took a stoppage time winner from Gonçalo Ramos and a VAR reprieve to get past Croatia in the round of 32. Ronaldo scored the penalty that levelled it. Of course he did. That is roughly the Portugal experience at this World Cup: long periods of not very much followed by a moment of quality that keeps them in it.

Spain's route here has been the opposite. Four games, zero goals conceded. A 3-0 win over Austria in the round of 32 where Yamal looked like the best player at the tournament. Their defensive structure under Luis de la Fuente has been outstanding, and Mikel Oyarzabal has quietly put together one of the best individual tournaments of anyone in the competition with four goals. The soccer odds reflect all of that. Spain -105 to win in 90 minutes, Portugal the longest price of the two sides despite having some of the most dangerous attacking talent remaining in the draw.

The Ronaldo Question Nobody Can Quite Answer

The debate around Ronaldo and his age has been a huge talking point in the tournament, he is 41. He has scored three goals at this tournament, all of them important. He is still the focal point of everything Portugal do in the final third, and his presence alone drags defensive attention in ways that create space for Bruno Fernandes and Joao Felix. But there is also a version of this where Portugal's best XI does not include a 41 year old centre forward, and Martínez has consistently refused to acknowledge that version exists.

What he has done instead is build a team around Ronaldo's limitations. Deep blocks, quick transitions, Fernandes operating between the lines, Vitinha and Joao Neves protecting the defence. It is not the most expansive football but it has been functional enough to get them to the round of 16, and against Spain it was not enough. Spain were the better side for most of the match and finally broke through when it mattered most.

The Yamal Factor

There is something slightly surreal about watching a teenager be the best player on the pitch in a World Cup knockout game, and Yamal has done it twice already at this tournament. The dribbling, the creativity in tight spaces, the assists that look impossible until he produces them. Spain -105 is what the soccer odds had him at as part of this team going in, and if you have watched him play these last few weeks that price starts to look short.

He will turn 19 on July 13, the day before Spain could line up in a semi-final. That is the world Portugal walked into in Dallas. A 41 year old in his last World Cup, an 18 year old in his first, and a match that will be talked about long after either of them has retired.

BoyleSports has the full soccer odds market on the remaining fixtures for anyone watching where the rest of this World Cup goes. Portugal's World Cup ended in Dallas, but the image of a 41 year old and an 18 year old on the same pitch in a knockout game will outlast the scoreline. Ronaldo confirmed this was his last World Cup before kickoff. It turned out to be his last match too.