France, Uruguay set date for quarter-finals

“It’s a shame if we don’t (see Messi and Ronaldo at the next World Cup)”.

Edinson Cavani scored two superb goals as Uruguay beat Portugal 2-1 to set up a World Cup quarter-final with France.

His eternal rival Lionel Messi finds himself in the same boat, with the Argentina worldwide having also tasted last-16 heartache on Saturday as the Albiceleste went down 4-3 in a thrilling clash with France.

Portugal coach Fernando Santos threw up his hands in disgust, realising that coming from behind a second time against this Uruguay defence was going to be a tall order.

As he took his leave of the tournament, Ronaldo was in no doubt that Portugal had done the very best they could: “Generally speaking, we can be proud of our efforts”.

“Your support was and always will be fundamental to us”, Ronaldo wrote on Instagram alongside the Portuguese flag.

Portugal had more than 60 percent of possession, which they found hard to translate into a goal.

Cavani got his second and the decisive goal with an exquisite finish as he opens up his body and struck the ball with his right foot.

Ronaldo will be 35 by the next European Championship, and 37 by the next World Cup in Qatar.

Portugal, after their impressive performances in four matches, will go home, and Real Madrid forward Ronaldo’s fourth World Cup journey finished earlier than expected.

“There is a tournament in September and we hope Cristiano will be with us to help the players grow”.

“I know it’s complicated because the injury isn’t easy and because there are few days left to recover, but I know that the desire, the attitude and the commitment he’ll have to be there, although it doesn’t depend much on him”.

“The team will continue to be one of the best teams in the world”. I think the tournament is very well structured, a lot of security.

The 2018 World Cup returns on Friday after a two-day break England beating Colombia in the last round of 16 game on Tuesday.

It is still unclear if Cavani will start the France game on the bench or not.

“The distinctive feature of the game was the dedication the players showed on the pitch, and that is the way that we see football”, Tabarez said.