Portugal eliminated in round of 16 by Spain – Ronaldo hints at career end

Ronaldo was in the starting XI and played the full ninety. The stats credit him with three shots and 18 touches – modest numbers for a player who logged a total of 441 minutes on the pitch at this tournament, the second-highest playing time of any outfield player in the squad. The 41-year-old scored three goals at this World Cup, two of them in the 5-1 win over Uzbekistan in the group stage, thus achieving his personal goal of scoring at each of his six World Cup appearances.

Ronaldo's last World Cup – or is it?

Before the match, Ronaldo had announced that the 2026 World Cup would be his last. Asked about his future after the game, he replied: "Es war tatsächlich meine letzte Weltmeisterschaft, ja", but at the same time added a caveat: "Ich habe jetzt Zeit nachzudenken und mit meiner Familie zu entscheiden." He did not want to announce a definitive decision about his retirement from the national team.

In the mixed zone, the captain was visibly moved, but appeared composed and combative. "Ich gehe ruhigen Gewissens, ich habe alles für den Fussball gegeben", he said. He also drew strength for himself and those around him with the words "Morgen ist ein neuer Tag und dann geht das Leben weiter" and "Ich werde morgen in derselben Stimmung wie heute aufwachen. Mit gutem Gewissen, weil ich immer mein Bestes gebe." He ruled out a hasty decision: "Ich werde keine voreiligen Entscheidungen treffen."

Changing of the guard: Yamal and Ronaldo

At the final whistle, Spanish teenage star Lamine Yamal – 18 years old, roughly the same age as Ronaldo's eldest son – sought out the Portuguese for an embrace. A fan placard in the stadium had earlier juxtaposed the two as "Legend" and "Future" – an image that neatly encapsulated the generational question in world football. As "Legend" and "Future", a fan placard had united the two.

The tournament in the United States was a particular milestone for Ronaldo: alongside Lionel Messi, he is the only player to have taken part in six World Cup finals. His record at this World Cup: five games, three goals. Across all six tournaments he has 27 World Cup appearances and 11 goals, four of which came from the penalty spot. That puts him ahead even of Messi, who did not score at every one of his six appearances: "CR7" is in fact ahead of Messi in having scored at all six of his appearances.

Three titles, one dream

His greatest achievements with Portugal remain the Euro 2016 title – when he went off injured in the final but acted as an informal assistant coach – as well as the Nations League triumphs of 2019 and 2025. "Ich habe mit Portugal drei Titel gewonnen. Vor Cristiano hat Portugal keinen einzigen Titel gewonnen", he stressed. His greatest title was the one he won with Portugal at Euro 2016. For him, that title is worth as much as a world championship.

Even before the match, there had been debate about Ronaldo's role in the squad: in the round of 16, Gonçalo Ramos – the match-winner from the previous round in the 2-1 over Croatia – did not see a single minute. Ronaldo's sister Katia had also said he would retire from the national team – something Ronaldo confirmed neither before nor after the match.

The loss to Spain brings to a close a personal World Cup sequence for Ronaldo without a quarter-final appearance after his 2006 debut in Germany. Back then he was the youngest in the Portuguese squad alongside Luís Figo, Deco and Maniche, lost 1-0 to France in the semi-final and fell to Germany in the third-place playoff. "Den größten Titel habe ich 2016 mit der EM gewonnen" – a sentence often quoted that underscores the fact that the World Cup remained for him an unfulfilled dream.

A World Cup record without a happy ending

Back in 2010, Portugal had already been eliminated in the round of 16 by Spain. 2014 brought a group-stage exit, triggered by a 0-4 defeat to Germany, in which Ronaldo smashed a free kick into the one-man wall formed by Philipp Lahm (1.70 m tall). In 2018, his hat-trick in the 3-3 against Spain produced a memorable evening, but he was knocked out in the round of 16 by Uruguay, with Edinson Cavani scoring twice. In 2022 he lost his place in the starting XI and watched most of the 0-1 quarter-final loss to Morocco from the bench.

For the match against Spain, FIFA had cleared Ronaldo to play despite a red card from his second-to-last qualifier. The ban was suspended, allowing him to start. Alongside the sporting exit, there was also a personnel change: head coach Roberto Martínez said after the match: "Das war mein letztes Spiel". According to media reports, 71-year-old Jorge Jesus is set to take over – a coach who has already managed Benfica and Sporting in Lisbon, and most recently looked after Ronaldo at Al-Nassr.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, plans to continue his club career. His contract at the Saudi club Al-Nassr runs until 2027, and he has set himself the target of reaching 1,000 official career goals – he still needs 24. Whether his last appearance in Portuguese colours is already part of history, he did not want to answer conclusively. "Höchstwahrscheinlich, ja" – that was his cautious reply when asked whether the World Cup round of 16 had been his last international. He added: "Ich bin nicht mehr der Spieler von früher" – coupled with the note that he is also not as bad as is sometimes made out.

Outlook: Al-Nassr and the thousand goals

The record of an extraordinary career remains impressive all the while: five Champions League titles, league championships in England, Spain and Italy – and, with Portugal, two Nations League titles in 2019 and 2025 alongside the Euro 2016 triumph. Ronaldo himself knows better than anyone that the World Cup crown is missing. As early as after the 2022 World Cup, he wrote on Instagram that winning the World Championship had been the greatest and most ambitious dream of his career: "Mit Portugal die WM zu gewinnen war der größte und ambitionierteste Traum meiner Karriere."