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Will the long-awaited dream come true?
In the 32nd round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the victory of the Portuguese national team over Croatia with a score of 2:1 recalled a remarkable historical paradox, which can give “Brazil of Europe” the long-awaited dream.
Ronaldo managed to score the first goal for Portugal, taking his tally to 3 in the current league and 11 in total in his history of appearances at World Cups.
When talking about the confrontation with Croatia, it is necessary to talk about a historical irony that can give Ronaldo and his teammates the expected title, considering that the opponent was the side of the champion of the competition in the last two games.
In the 2018 match, the French national team managed to defeat Croatia in the final match (4-2), winning the World Cup title for the second time in its history.
Four years later, the scene repeated itself in a different way, with Argentina beating their counterparts from Croatia 3-0 in the 2022 semi-finals, before Lionel Messi and his team-mates were crowned world champions after defeating France in the final.
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Portugal joined the list today after knocking out Croatia in the Round of 32 for the 2026 edition, opening the door for fans to talk about a paradox that could be repeated for a third consecutive time.
Although this is nothing more than a statistical coincidence, many Portuguese fans see this as a positive sign, especially since the team has an outstanding group of stars, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, and a strong ambition to continue their journey to Brazil’s first ever European title.
But at the end of the day, numbers and paradoxes remain mere indicators, while deciding the title will be all about what Portugal put on the field in the coming rounds and not what happened in the previous editions.
