The 40-year-old can give his country a massive boost if he calls time on his international career before next year's tournament in North America
"If I don't score and someone else scores, it's all the same to me," Cristiano Ronaldo declared after Portugal's 1-0 defeat to Denmark in the first leg of their Nations League quarter-final tie. "If Portugal has to win and I don't play, I'll sign my name right now, tell the coach and I won't play. I'll defend these colours until the death."
In an extremely rare admission of his human capacity for failure, Ronaldo also claimed he's "played 50,000 bad games" since making his professional debut for Sporting CP back in 2002, before adding: "Things don't work out sometimes." It was refreshing to hear the five-time Ballon d'Or winner let his guard down instead of sticking to type and allowing his arrogant streak to run rampant.
However, actions speak louder than words, and what we're seeing on the pitch suggests that Ronaldo's perception of reality remains distorted. Indeed, if the 40-year-old were truly serious about putting Portugal's collective ambitions ahead of his own, he wouldn't still be making himself available for selection to Roberto Martinez.
Things haven't been working out for the Seleccao for a good three years now, and Ronaldo is the main reason for that. The Al-Nassr superstar is still fit enough to bang in goals consistently in the Saudi Pro League, but it's clear he can no longer keep up with the pace of elite-level football, which is completely understandable given his age.
Ronaldo's refusal to acknowledge that is the problem. No one can take away the former Manchester United and Real Madrid frontman's status as an all-time great, but he's done serious damage to his legacy by extending his Portugal career far beyond its sell-by date. It can still be repaired, but only if Ronaldo is willing to break character and make a selfless decision: giving up on his dream of lifting the World Cup.
AFPAttack of self-doubt
Ronaldo only had one chance of note in Denmark last week (a weak header that he put wide of the post), and spent the majority of the game as a passenger. It was a poor performance that should have led to him being benched for the second leg at Jose Alvalade Stadium.
But Martinez seems completely unwilling to even consider taking Ronaldo out of the firing line. "Our teams are very flexible tactically, we have played with two strikers. We need to use our players depending on our opponent. But it is not a question of trying to talk about Cristiano in every game," the Portugal head coach told a pre-match press conference. "If Cristiano Ronaldo scores, he is the most important player in the team. When he does not score, it is because of his age. It is not a fair assessment."
Sure enough, Ronaldo was back in the starting XI on Sunday, and just three minutes in, he had the opportunity to justify his inclusion. He won a penalty after going down easily when competing to reach a cross, and stepped up to take it himself in trademark fashion, shoulders back and cheeks puffed out.
Ronaldo seemed to suffer an attack of self-doubt in his run-up, though, as he stuttered before placing a tame effort straight into the grateful arms of Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. Remarkably, it was only the 32nd penalty miss of Ronaldo's career out of 204 attempts, but it will likely be remembered as his worst given the complete lack of conviction.
AdvertisementAFPPlenty of passion, but no mobility
To Ronaldo's credit, he responded well after that humiliating moment. He kept firing in shots to test Schmeichel, and played a key role in Portugal's opening goal, producing a running leap to try and meet a Bruno Fernandes corner that led to Joachim Andersen accidentally nodding the ball into his own net.
Denmark equalised through Rasmus Christensen just before the hour mark, but then luck finally smiled favourably on Ronaldo. Portugal restored their lead in the 72nd minute after Fernandes' long-range shot struck the post before rebounding off Schmeichel into the path of Ronaldo, who managed to steer the ball into the net from a tight angle.
It does seem as though Ronaldo's predatory instincts will be the last thing to leave him, but his mobility went some time ago. That much was evident as he faded into anonymity in the final portion of the game before seemingly asking Martinez to take him off due to an injury.
The tie went to extra-time after a Christian Eriksen effort was cancelled out by substitute Francisco Trincao, who doubled his account just after the restart before Ronaldo's replacement, Goncalo Ramos, put Portugal 5-3 up on aggregate. Much like he did in the Euro 2016 final, Ronaldo adopted the role of assistant coach as he attempted to push his team-mates over the line from the technical area, and when the final whistle blew, he celebrated passionately.
But Portugal may not have emerged victorious had Ronaldo remained on the pitch for the full 120 minutes. It was only after his withdrawal that they went up a gear and Denmark started to wilt, with their talented frontline liberated from the pressure of constantly looking for the captain.
GettyCasting a huge shadow
Ronaldo is now up to six goals in eight games in the latest edition of the Nations League, which is an impressive haul, but four of those efforts came against Scotland and Poland, and the remaining two came in wins over Croatia and Denmark teams who are not as strong as they once were. Portugal will face their first proper examination against top-drawer opposition in the semi-finals, with Julian Nagelsmann's Germany awaiting after their last-eight victory over Italy.
It won't be a surprise if Portugal come unstuck in that tie, because they are still lacking a proper identity under Martinez. His insistence on building the team around Ronaldo is preventing any significant progress from being made.
Ronaldo casts a huge shadow over the squad off the pitch, too, as every move he makes and word he utters is scrutinised to the finest possible degree. Indeed, before the second leg against Denmark, he made headlines for demanding that a reporter look him directly in the eyes after asking a question instead of at their computer screen.
Egotistical outbursts like that were excusable when Ronaldo was making a decisive impact at his peak, but now they are just providing an unwanted distraction. Martinez is letting Ronaldo survive purely based on his past exploits, ignoring the obvious fact he's in decline out of fear, or worse, pure ignorance.
Getty'Football doesn't need Ronaldo at 2026 World Cup'
If Ronaldo does end up going to next year's World Cup, Portugal are pretty much guaranteed more heartbreak. The Seleccao were dumped out of the competition by an unfancied Morocco side in 2022 at the round of 16 stage, and at last summer's European Championship in Germany, they were beaten by a below-par France in the quarter-finals.
Ronaldo appeared in all 10 of Portugal's matches across those tournaments, but only scored once – from the penalty spot. Fernando Santos did at least bench Ronaldo for the Morocco game in Qatar, which should have spelled the end for the Sporting CP academy graduate, who broke down in tears after the 1-0 defeat.
But Martinez's first order of business after replacing Santos at the helm was to inexplicably re-affirm Ronaldo's status as Portugal's most important player. Ronaldo started every game at the Euros, and Martinez only subbed the then-39-year-old off once (in a group stage clash with Georgia after Portugal had already booked a spot in the last 16), despite his ineffectiveness in the final third.
Portugal are arguably an even worse team now than when Martinez initially came in, and it's difficult to imagine their fans tolerating another year of him enabling Ronaldo. Neutral supporters don't want to see Ronaldo embarrass himself on the biggest stage again either, including ex-Chelsea and Netherlands star Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
"Football doesn't need Ronaldo at the 2026 World Cup," Hasselbaink recently told . "Ronaldo has been one of the best players for a long time; one of the best players in history. I think, at the moment, he’s doing himself more harm than good to be playing for Portugal still."
