Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo, and a World Cup instant classic with historic stakes and tension

Ask almost any fan at Thursday’s FIFA World Cup Round of 32 match in Toronto about the best player on their favored team and you’re going to get descriptions of the highest admiration, words that will dare you to call out exaggeration.

But don’t you dare when it comes to Portuguese fans and Cristiano Ronaldo or Croatian supporters and Luka Modric.

MORE — Portugal 2-1 Croatia recap and video highlights

Now note that Modric, 40, and Ronaldo, 41, had defied time just to participate in this tournament and that one was likely to be playing his last World Cup game on this sweltering occasion in Ontario. While Portugal fans told me they feared a day without CR7 in their shirt, a Croatian supporter told me the only person more important in Croatia than Luka Modric was Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, consider that this massive metropolis and its surrounding region — the Greater Toronto Area or GTA — has long been home to massive and fervent Portuguese and Croatian populations.

And finally, consider that many in this crowd had the added desperation and desire to celebrate given the fact that so many spent a good deal of savings on getting here as outlandish resale prices spiked when the identities of these two massive teams were confirmed for this big fixtures.

Toronto’s history formed the perfect cauldron for Portugal vs Croatia

Almost half a million Canadians boast Portuguese heritage, and more than 110,000 live in the Greater Toronto Area according to the 2021 census, contributing to a figure of 300,000-plus in Ontario.

Canadians with Croatian heritage also make up a notable portion of the Ontario population, with nearly 100,000 in the state and a passionate base in Toronto.

The history looms larger because of Toronto Croatia, who purchased Toronto Metros in 1975 and became Toronto Metros-Croatia. This team, ironically enough, was propelled to great heights in the North American Soccer League with Portuguese legend Eusebio — the Black Pearl — helping to lead them to a Soccer Bowl ’76 triumph over the Minnesota Kicks.

So the spirit around the stadium was pretty friendly before the game. After all, those who’d celebrate Modric would’ve cheered on Ronaldo when both were with Real Madrid, and vice versa.

Croatia fans made noise early in warm-ups but Portugal turned up the juice upon arrival, greeting even Ronaldo’s kicks into empty goals with “Siiiiiiuuuuuuuuu.”

And then came Ronaldo pumped up the crowd as a VAR review was announced for a possible penalty with Croatia up 1-0.

Then, the explosion as Ronaldo started his penalty run-up, stopped it, and deposited the ball into the vacated part of the goal. Chaos. Jubilation. Waves of noise that crashed with more and more power.

Ironically, of course, Portugal would find their winner from their other center forward after Ronaldo had subbed out of the game. The noise was no less powerful, though, as the Portuguese faithful celebrated the extended life in this tournament.