Spain captain Rodri said that he was wrong to celebrate his former Manchester City teammate Bernardo Silva’s late miss for Portugal in the 1-0 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 victory at Dallas Stadium, Arlington, on Monday (July 6).
A cagey second half burst to life in stoppage time when substitute Mikel Merino latched on to Ferran Torres’ pass through a vacant Selecao defence. The Arsenal man made no mistake as he beat the onrushing Diogo Costa.
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Late on, Selecao substitute Bernardo Silva saw a close-range header sail over. As the midfielder lay on the ground following the miss, Rodri was seen celebrating it, which didn’t go well with Silva.
Following the final whistle, the 2024 Ballon d’Or owned up to being in the wrong for celebrating Silva’s miss as he said (via Madrid Xtra):
“I APOLOGISE to Bernardo Silva for celebrating his miss in the last play. It was MY FAULT.”
Rodri and Silva were teammates at the Etihad for seven seasons before the latter left this summer as a free agent, winning multiple titles together, including the treble in 2023.
Spain set FIFA World Cup record as they see off Portugal to reach quarter-finals
Spain are into the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals after beating Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal by a solitary goal in a hard-fought Round of 16 battle in Arlington.
Having not conceded during the group stage, Luis de la Fuente’s side continued their fine run in the Round of 32 with a 3-0 victory over Austria before repeating the trick against Ronaldo and Co.
With that, the 2010 champions have become the first side in FIFA World Cup history to keep six consecutive clean sheets (as per the BBC), a run stretching back to Qatar 2022, where they lost on penalties to Morocco in the Round of 16 after a goalless 120 minutes.
De La Fuente’s side – who haven’t conceded in over 10 hours in the competition – next take on co-hosts USA or Belgium in the last eight on Friday (July 10) at Los Angeles Stadium, Inglewood.
Edited by Bhargav