Day 24: Portugal survive, Spain cruise, Mahrez says goodbye

Day 24 is the cleanest knockout snapshot so far: Spain handled Austria 3-0, Portugal survived Croatia 2-1, and Switzerland ended Algeria's run 2-0. Olympics.com's Round of 32 live schedule lists the July 2 scorers as Mikel Oyarzabal, Pedro Porro, Cristiano Ronaldo, Goncalo Ramos, Ivan Perisic, Breel Embolo, and Dan Ndoye. 1

Portugal-Croatia became the day's loudest debate because Croatia thought it had a 2-2 equaliser, only for VAR and ball-chip data to rule Mario Pasalic offside; ESPN reported that Ronaldo scored his first World Cup knockout-stage goal and Ramos won it in stoppage time. 2

The emotional exit belonged to Riyad Mahrez. The Hindu reported that he retired from Algeria duty after the Switzerland defeat, leaving with 119 appearances and 40 goals; Goal also reported the retirement after Algeria's Round of 32 elimination. 34

Verified X pulse used on the final card: CGTN's quick recap of the three July 2 results, The Hindu's Dalic refereeing post, and The Hindu's Mahrez retirement post. 567