Ronaldo confirms: this World Cup will be his last
At 41, Cristiano Ronaldo confirmed that the 2026 World Cup will be his last. Portugal face Spain in Dallas in a match that could be the captain's farewell.
Twenty-three years. Two hundred and thirty-two matches. One hundred and forty-six goals. And now, the final word.
Cristiano Ronaldo confirmed, on the eve of Portugal's round-of-16 clash with Spain at the World Cup, that this will be his last tournament as a player. At 41 years old — seven months shy of turning 42 — the Portuguese captain reached the limit he had always tried not to name. And then he named it.
"This will be my last World Cup, but I hope tomorrow won't be my last game," Ronaldo told the press, according to BBC Sport.
When asked about the criticism surrounding his performances in the tournament — three goals, but also moments of invisibility — the striker did not shy away. "I'm not doing that badly," he replied. And he went further: "You've been trying to kill me for the last 23 years, but you must have realised it's not worth it."
The line sums up an entire career of challenges answered on the pitch. But now, against Spain in Dallas, the answer must come at the heaviest possible moment.
The trophy that got away. The World Cup is the one major title that has eluded Ronaldo. A European champion in 2016, a five-time Champions League winner, he has arrived at six World Cups without lifting the trophy. And this time, he seems to have made peace with that possibility.
"I'm not missing anything; God has been generous with me," he said. "I won't be more or less Cristiano whether I win the World Cup or not."
The Golmetria model gives Portugal a 5.13% chance of winning the title — against 22.43% for Spain, the side with the highest probability of being crowned champions in the tournament. The market sees a similar gap: odds of +1000 for the Portuguese, compared to +420 for the Spanish.
The game in Dallas could be the last time Ronaldo pulls on the Portugal shirt. Or it could be the start of something no one dared expect anymore. At 8 p.m. (Brasília time), history decides.