Mark OgdenJun 8, 2025, 06:51 PM ET
MUNICH, Germany -- It was billed as Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lamine Yamal, a night when the baton would pass from one football superstar to the next, but when the decisive moment came in Portugal's UEFA Nations League final win against Spain, both could only watch from the sidelines as others took center stage.
Diogo Costa's save from Alvaro Morata's spot kick in the penalty shootout, after the Iberian neighbors had played out a high-quality 2-2 draw in Munich, enabled Rúben Neves to score the decisive penalty for a 5-3 Portugal win.
Ronaldo, who had to be substituted in the 88th minute due to a muscle strain, ran onto the pitch to celebrate before bursting into tears having clinched his third international trophy -- a second Nations League and the Euro 2016 title, when he also ended the game on the bench due to injury. Yamal, meanwhile, was left to wander onto the pitch in his heavy substitutes' coat, consoling teammates -- especially Morata, after the veteran forward's failure from the spot.
The 17-year-old Spain forward was hardly heartbroken. The Nations League is neither a major trophy or a minor one -- it is somewhere in between -- but you can be sure that after already winning Euro 2024 last summer, this near-miss in the Nations League won't cause the Barcelona starlet sleepless nights when he eventually looks back on what promises to be a stellar career.
Yamal might end up with a trophy cabinet as well-stocked as Ronaldo's -- multiple titles, Champions Leagues and Ballons d'Or -- and it is a good bet to suggest he might even get his hands on the FIFA World Cup next year. But tonight wasn't his night.
It wasn't Ronaldo's either, although the 40-year-old could at least point to having scored yet another goal. His second-half volley from a deflected, looping cross made it 2-2 on the night and was his 138th international goal -- way ahead of the 109 scored by former Iran striker Ali Daei, the only other player in the men's game to break the 100-goal barrier.
Yamal and Ronaldo grabbed the prematch spotlight, but the beauty of these two teams is that they both have much more than their superstar forwards and this was a night in which they proved it.
Nuno Mendes was the outstanding player on show, the Paris Saint-Germain left back winning his direct battle with Yamal. Mendes, who scored Portugal's first goal, beat Yamal easily before crossing for Ronaldo to score in the second half and a week after winning the Champions League, he got his hands on the Nations League trophy after shrugging off the pressure to score an exceptional penalty in the shootout.
Bruno Fernandes also made a big impact for Portugal while Vitinha shone on the Allianz Arena pitch, just as he did during PSG's 5-0 rout of Inter Milan eight days ago.
Spain also showed depth and world-class quality beyond Yamal, who was quiet beyond delivering the cross that led to Martín Zubimendi scoring the opening goal of the game after 21 minutes. Zubimendi, who is expected to complete a £51 million transfer from Real Sociedad to Arsenal this week, was as impressive a holding midfield role as he was when he broke forward. If Arsenal get the player we saw in this game, he might just be the final piece of Mikel Arteta's jigsaw at the Emirates.
Pedri, the Barcelona midfielder, was sublime at times alongside Zubimendi, and his run deep into Portugal territory preceded the pass from which Mikel Oyarzabal produced a classy to make it 2-1 on the stroke of halftime.
Oyarzabal is a player who often goes under the radar. At 28, he has spent the entirety of his professional career with Real Sociedad, remaining loyal to his Basque roots, but his ability is worthy of a much bigger club stage than that which La Real have provided him. Strong, clever and a clinical finisher, Oyarzabal has now scored in three major finals for Spain and will be a crucial member of their squad at the World Cup next year.
There were other standout performers on both sides -- defenders Dean Huijsen and Robin Le Normand were impressive for Spain, while Rúben Dias was back to his world-class best for Portugal. Both goalkeepers, Spain's Unai Simón and Portugal's Costa, also showed themselves to be of the quality required to win a World Cup.
But if either of these sides is to go the distance in the United States, Canada and Mexico next year, for all of their undoubted talent, it might just need a touch of genius to take the final step, just as Argentina relied on Lionel Messi to get them over the line at Qatar 2022.
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Ronaldo will be 41 by the time he plays in the World Cup, but after scoring against Germany and Spain this week, the Al-Nassr forward has shown he can still make it happen against the strongest nations. Yamal, on the other hand, is already a wonderkid and will only be better by the time the World Cup comes around.
Both players must live up to impossible expectations -- Ronaldo for what he has done, and Yamal because of what he promises to be -- but they won't have to do it on their own. It's clear from Sunday night that both Portugal and Spain have the depth to support their superstars all the way to World Cup glory.
