Portugal’s round-of-16 meeting with Croatia has arrived with a different mood around the squad: Roberto Martínez says a new phase begins now, while Vitinha insists there is no room for favorite talk before the knockout match in Toronto.
The timing matters because the game is being framed inside the tournament’s sharpest edge, where one mistake can end everything. Portugal has already used 21 players, and Vitinha said that number shows a squad built for choice, not comfort, with everyone prepared and the locker room satisfied.
Before Martínez spoke, Vitinha set the tone in Toronto. He said Portugal has to take the game where it wants it, because Croatia likes to have the ball and both teams become more dangerous when they control it. He also pointed out that the two sides already met in the Nations League, leaving little mystery about the broad shape of the contest.
That is where the pressure starts to show. Vitinha said Portugal should not be thinking about being a favorite, even with a knockout match ahead and a tournament workload that has already reached 21 players. In his view, the only teams that truly carry that label are the ones that have already won the World Cup, and he added that criticism is part of the World Cup and that the team does not listen to noise from outside.
He also drew a line between the present and whatever comes after it. Future questions about individual players do not matter when the next match is this close, he said, and Portugal has to stay focused on Croatia before looking ahead to anything else. The squad, he added, is united and needs solutions, attitude and self-criticism if it is going to keep moving forward.
Vitinha’s comments also underlined why this matchup has drawn so much attention. He described Croatia as a side led by the same coach for 10 years and named Modric, Gvardiol and Kovacic as major threats. He said longevity makes Ronaldo and Modric special, placing both men above public opinion because they have stayed at the top for so long. Modric is 40, Vitinha noted, and Ronaldo remains the same kind of reference point for Portugal.
Martínez’s point about a new phase fits that reality. The tournament has already moved into its cut-throat stage, and Portugal is no longer managing a group campaign or experimenting with room to spare. Vitinha said the team has begun the first World Cup and can only judge the second once it ends, a way of saying the real test starts now.
What comes next is simple and unforgiving: Portugal will face Croatia in the round of 16, and the lineup has not been confirmed. Vitinha’s warning is the clearest guide to how the camp sees it — this is not about labels, but about winning the next match and proving the squad can turn its many options into an answer.
