Portugal fell behind after a goal from Perišić, before Cristiano Ronaldo equalised from a VAR-awarded penalty. After the match, Ronaldo surprisingly received the MVP award.

It was far from an outstanding performance from the Portugal captain, and he was substituted while the game was still level. From a visual standpoint, it was another match in which Ronaldo was rarely involved in attacking play, and he had little decisive impact inside the box. He did have a goal ruled out for offside, which could have been a brilliant finish, but aside from the penalty, there was little else worth highlighting in his performance.

The statistics reflect this as well. When Ronaldo was named MVP, he had only two shots, with one on target—the penalty—and he did not complete a single dribble throughout the match. Moreover, he had just 25 touches, the fewest among all starting players. The closest Portugal player in terms of involvement was Pedro Neto, who had 39 touches and was substituted earlier than Ronaldo.

Defensively, Ronaldo’s contribution in pressing was also limited. He completed just one successful tackle and offered no interceptions or additional defensive actions. As a result, he did not produce a performance that would typically justify an MVP award, which was his second of this World Cup.

If anyone in the Portugal team deserved the MVP award, it would undoubtedly be Diogo Costa. Portugal’s progression to the Round of 16 owed much to the goalkeeper’s performance, as he repeatedly prevented Croatia from extending their lead. Diogo Costa made five crucial saves in total, including two from Kovacic. One of them came from outside the box, where he tipped the ball onto the post to keep it out.