World Cup today: Spain aim to reach last eight and Fernando Santos unhappy with Cristiano Ronaldo

The World Cup 2022’s quarter-final line-up will be completed on Tuesday, with the remaining fixture slot to be filled by the winners from Portugal v Switzerland and Morocco v Spain.

Those contests come after Brazil powered into the last eight with a 4-1 thumping of South Korea, setting up a clash with Croatia, who defeated Japan 3-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Here, the PA news agency looks ahead to the final day of round-of-16 action in Qatar, and back at how Monday unfolded.

Santos unhappy with Ronaldo reaction

Ahead of the meeting with Switzerland at Lusail Stadium, Portugal head coach Fernando Santos revealed he was not happy with Cristiano Ronaldo’s reaction after being substituted in their final group game.

Ronaldo appeared angry after being withdrawn 25 minutes from the end of Friday’s 2-1 loss to South Korea – the former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward later said his frustration was aimed at an opposing player rather than Santos for taking him off.

Santos said at his pre-match press conference that he “really did not like it”, and while he added that “we fixed it in-house”, he did not confirm if Ronaldo would captain the side against the Swiss.

Penalty practice for Spain

Spain boss Luis Enrique, meanwhile, has said he told his players over a year ago they needed to practise taking at least 1,000 penalties with their clubs in preparation for possible shoot-outs in Qatar.

Enrique, whose side play Morocco at Education City Stadium, said: “I don’t think it’s a lottery, it doesn’t just depend on luck.

“It’s the moment of the highest pressure, you have to show skill and take the penalty. Obviously you cannot train the pressure and the tension, but it’s manageable, you can cope with that pressure and those key moments say a lot about a player. It doesn’t really depend on luck.”

Ruthless Brazil

Brazil are through after producing a first-half blitz against South Korea at Stadium 974 that started with a Vinicius Junior strike in the seventh minute.

Neymar, making his return after missing the previous two games with an ankle injury, then added a penalty six minutes later to move one goal behind the team’s all-time top-scorer Pele.

Further efforts followed from Richarlison (29), rounding off a brilliant team move, and Lucas Paqueta (36), a superb volley, as the five-time world champions all but wrapped things up prior to the interval. Paik Seung-ho pulled a consolation goal back for South Korea with 14 minutes of normal time remaining.

Livakovic the hero for Croatia

In Monday’s earlier match, 2018 runners-up Croatia fell behind courtesy of Daizen Maeda’s 43rd-minute finish, before equalising through an Ivan Perisic header 10 minutes into the second half.

In the shoot-out that then followed, Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic made three saves, keeping out tame efforts from Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitoma and Maya Yoshida, as Japan’s memorable campaign, featuring stunning group-stage victories over Germany and Spain, came to an end.

Tweet of the day

Who’s up next?

Last 16 - Morocco v Spain (1500GMT, ITV1); Portugal v Switzerland (1900GMT, ITV1)