Bruno Fernandes, whose team was eliminated in the World Cup Round of 16, encouraged Portugal not to lose faith.

Portugal, nicknamed the "Navigators," conceded a goal in the final stages of the second half in their Round of 16 match at the 2026 World Cup, ultimately losing 0-1 to Spain and failing to advance to the quarterfinals. Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes stated that he believes the team still has the ability to win the title and encouraged them not to lose heart, but to continue moving forward in different ways.

In the second half stoppage time, Spain won a free kick. Ferran Torres played a through ball to Merino, who slotted it home to give Spain a 1-0 lead. Six minutes later, Conceição delivered a cross, and Bernardo Silva headed the ball over the bar.

Ultimately, Portugal lost 0-1 to Spain, ending their World Cup run in the round of 16.

Portuguese midfielder Bruno Fernandes said, "It's a sad moment. Our goal was very clear: to win the World Cup. But we didn't play our best. We dominated in the first half, but made the same mistake in the second half: we dropped too deep and gave possession to the opponent. When that happened, we ended up on the back foot."

"Spain deserves praise, but I believe that if we could have continued playing the way we did in the first half, the final result would have been different. This World Cup journey cannot be described as positive. Only going all the way to the end can be considered a success."

Bruno Fernandes said, "I know we've never won the World Cup, and we always set our standards very high, but one thing is certain: this team has the ability to win the World Cup. We don't need to lose confidence. We lost to one of the favorites to win this tournament, and we must move forward in a different way. We need to stick to our style and find ways to earn the respect of our opponents."

"Our mistake was handing the initiative to Spain, which was exactly what they wanted. As the game progressed, our legs became heavier and heavier, and there was more and more space on the field."

In addition, Bruno Fernandes pointed out, "We should have continued to be aggressive and limited Spain's ability as much as possible, and we should have kept the ball under our control more. We were fully capable of doing so, but in the end we lost our way."

"This was a missed opportunity. We had the ability to win the World Cup, but we failed to bring out the best in every player and ended our World Cup journey prematurely."

Image source: Internet