VAR overturns Croatia goal as Portugal advances in World Cup knockout
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Croatia thought their FIFA World Cup hopes were still alive when they scored the game-tying goal just before the end of stoppage time in the second half.
But a VAR review said Mario Pasalic was offside, and it was Portugal moving on instead.
Gonçalo Ramos’ goal just minutes earlier — a beautiful header into the back of the net in the 94th minute — was the decider in this 2-1 victory for Portugal. And it was only the second time in Portuguese World Cup history the nation needed to come from behind to win, underscoring its resilience on the sport’s biggest stage.
Luka Modric of Croatia and teammates react after the 1-2 loss during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 match between Portugal and Croatia at Toronto Stadium on July 2, 2026, in Toronto, Ontario.(Patrick Smith – FIFA)
It was a controversial ending, though, and one where Croatia tried to argue the ball never hit the head of Igor Matanovic, which made Pasalic offside during VAR review.
It’s also worth noting that a new chip within the ball shows when it is touched, giving more concrete evidence to the referee’s final decision at such a crucial time of the match. This was the 10th goal overruled by VAR thus far in the World Cup.
So, with the goal annulled, Croatia’s time at the tournament has ended. As a result, Croatian legend Luka Modrić is finishing his fifth World Cup, which will likely be the 40-year-old midfielder’s final one.
But another older legend on the pitch will move on, as Cristiano Ronaldo made some World Cup history during this match.
When No. 7 stepped foot on the pitch and the ball was kicked, he became the oldest player to participate in a knockout stage match at the World Cup at 41 years and 147 days old. He also became the oldest player to score in a knockout stage match when he saw a penalty situation while Portugal was down 1-0 in the match.
Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 match between Portugal and Croatia at Toronto Stadium on July 2, 2026, in Toronto, Ontario.(Patrick Smith – FIFA)
Ivan Perisic got the first goal of this game and put Portugal’s back against the wall. But after a foul was committed inside Croatia’s box in the 67th minute, it was time for Ronaldo to get his first career knockout goal, and he didn’t disappoint.
Ronaldo was ecstatic, sprinting toward the corner flag and performing his signature “SIU!” celebration, which the crowd bellowed with the score at 1-1. Ronaldo had also seemed to get that first knockout goal just minutes earlier, but he was called offside.
Modrić and Ronaldo, two former teammates on Real Madrid, also made history together, as they were the first two players 40 years or older to play in the same match together.
Luka Modric of Croatia congratulates Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal after the 2-1 win during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 match between Portugal and Croatia at Toronto Stadium on July 2, 2026, in Toronto, Ontario.(Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
It was also an emotional moment after the match, as Ronaldo wore the jersey of late Portugal teammate Diogo Jota, who died in a car accident a year ago. A team photo was taken on the pitch, with Ronaldo holding up Jota’s jersey alongside his squad.
Look up the latest vaccination rates in your Texas school district
The rates of students exempt from required immunizations for conscientious or religious reasons increased statewide this past school year. Meanwhile, the percentage of students up to date on vaccinations — also known as coverage rates — varied by vaccine.
Kindergarten vaccination rates across the state and nation have dropped in recent years compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic as exemption rates have risen.
Each school year, Texas public school districts and private schools report to the state vaccination rates for each immunization required to attend kindergarten and 7th grade. The state publishes spreadsheets with information from these reports. The Texas Tribune has made this publicly available data easily searchable. Find those coverage rates for the 2025-26 school year with the change from the previous year below.
Vaccination rates at specific campuses can differ from their school districts, particularly in districts with multiple elementary schools. Some districts provide campus-level vaccine information.
Dan Keemahill gathers and analyzes data on health outcomes and access in Texas. A native of Sacramento, Dan is a graduate of Northwestern University and started his journalism career as a contributor to…
More by Dan Keemahill
Nuclear Firm First in US to Produce Power From Advanced Reactor
(Bloomberg) — Valar Atomics Inc., a California-based nuclear startup, generated power from an advanced reactor to run an Nvidia Corp. AI chip. While just a trickle of electricity was produced, it’s the first time a next-gen reactor has done so in the US.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Valar’s Ward 250 reactor was connected to the Nvidia Blackwell chip during a demonstration Wednesday at the company’s site in Utah, and used to temporarily host a website. The two companies also announced an agreement to jointly explore ways to develop nuclear-powered AI systems.
The latest step follows the reactor reaching “criticality” last month, marking the start of a self-sustaining fission reaction. Valar is part of a wave of companies developing next-generation nuclear technologies that use new materials and designs intended to improve safety and performance. However, the industry is still in its early stages, and no US advanced reactors are commercially available.
The Tesla brand logo can be seen on May 28, 2026 at a location of the car manufacturer in Parsdorf near Munich (Bavaria, Germany).
Matthias Balk | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Tesla reported vehicle deliveries and production levels for the second quarter that far exceeded Wall Street expectations, as Elon Musk’s automaker tries to rebound from consecutive annual declines in auto sales.
Here are the key numbers:
Total Q2 vehicle deliveries: 480,126
Total Q2 vehicle production: 451,758
Analysts were expecting around 406,600 deliveries, according to StreetAccount’s consensus. Tesla’s company-compiled consensus published last week was 406,024 deliveries.
In the same period last year, Tesla reported around 384,000 deliveries, and in the first quarter of 2026, the number came in at 358,023.
Thursday’s update showed a 25% year-over-year increase, and 34% increase versus the first quarter in deliveries for Tesla.
Shares of Musk’s EV maker sank about 3% on Thursday.
Tesla doesn’t break out exact delivery numbers by region or individual model, but the company said its entry-level Model 3 sedan and most popular Model Y SUVs accounted for 467,762, or 97% of its deliveries. Deliveries are the closest approximation of sales reported by Tesla but are not precisely defined in its shareholder communications.
Tesla is trying to recover from consecutive annual declines in vehicle sales that were partly caused by a consumer backlash against Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, and by the loss of a U.S. federal tax credit. Musk’s incendiary political rhetoric, endorsements of anti-immigrant extremists in Europe, and his work with the Trump administration to shrink the federal workforce drove away some prospective EV buyers.
Meanwhile, Chinese automakers like BYD, Nio and Xiaomi came to market with an array of more affordable, and high-tech EVs, while Tesla also faced increased competition from South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group and European EV makers including Volkswagen.
To revitalize sales, Tesla started selling lower-cost versions of its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, and more recently made its driver assistance systems, marketed under the brand name Full Self-Driving (Supervised), available in some European markets.
The biggest boon for the company in the quarter may have been soaring gas prices resulting from the war in Iran. European car buyers purchased more Tesla and other EVs in the first half of the year. However, oil prices are now back near where they were trading before the war began in February, in response to a fragile truce between the U.S. and Iran, and diplomatic efforts to bring the conflict to a lasting conclusion.
In the U.S., car buyers have pulled back from fully electric vehicles, and are embracing hybrids, according to Dan Hearsch, managing director at AlixPartners.
“We have a huge country, and people live far away from each other compared to Europe where the charging infrastructure is better and people don’t have to drive quite so far,” Hearsch said.
In the second half of the year, inflation, shifting trade policy, the rising cost of chips and other components may pose the biggest challenges to U.S. automakers, he added.
Tesla stock chart.
Musk has directed Tesla to focus on ramping production and sales of its Semi electric trucks, and to start production of its driverless Cybercab. The company is also looking to begin production of its Optimus humanoid robots.
In Tesla’s first quarter investor update, the company said it was “optimizing” its vehicle portfolio, “with an emphasis on vehicles designed for a fully autonomous future” and expected “volume production of both Cybercab and the Tesla Semi this year.”
Tesla said in January that it would stop producing its flagship Model S and X vehicles, and would use their factory lines in Fremont, California to build Optimus units.
In its Energy business, which installs solar photovoltaics and sells battery energy storage systems, Tesla said it deployed 13.5GWh in the second quarter of 2026, compared to 9.6 Gwh a year ago. Analysts expected 13.3 GWh.
Musk’s SpaceX, which owns xAI, bought $269 million worth of Tesla Megapacks in April, according to its IPO filing. SpaceX is using the Megapacks to reduce xAI’s electricity costs at its power-hungry data centers in and around Memphis, Tennessee.
In the second quarter deliveries report, Tesla did not disclose whether related-party transactions contributed to the strong numbers. Last year, SpaceX spent $131 million purchasing Tesla Cybertrucks. That dollar amount represented a large portion of the 20,237 Cybertrucks Tesla sold in 2025, according to Kelley Blue Book.
As of Wednesday’s close, Tesla shares were down about 5% this year, while the Nasdaq was up 12%.
Tesla plans to report second-quarter financial results on Wednesday, July 22, after the market’s close.
