Holding the record for the most goals in international football with 146, Ronaldo has reshaped the Portuguese national team, changing its mindset more than any figure before him.
Across his five prior World Cup appearances, he entered every tournament with an unquestioned status, but the voices urging him to accept a more limited role on the pitch are becoming louder.
“His aim isn’t winning; his aim is being the central star,” contended Antonio Simoes, who was part of the Portugal squad that clinched third place at the 1966 tournament. “Do you see how that’s completely different from Eusebio? Let’s speak plainly. I hold no grudge against him. My senses are still sharp, and my mind is clear. But I cannot ignore what’s right in front of me.”
After hitting the net three times in stadiums across the United States and Canada, Ronaldo has now scored in every single one of the six World Cups he has featured in.
A spot-kick against Iran in 2006 preceded a strike against North Korea in Cape Town four years later. His sole goal at the 2014 competition came against Ghana in Brasilia.
Then, in a group stage contest in Sochi in 2018, he delivered a hat-trick against Spain, and five days afterward, notched the decisive goal against Morocco in Moscow.
Ronaldo’s lone goal in Qatar in 2022 was a penalty against Ghana. Prior to converting from the spot against Croatia last week, he bagged two in a 5-0 friendly win over Uzbekistan in Houston on 23 June.
“His guidance and his output in the attacking third remain among the finest globally,” said Martinez, when questioned about his choice to keep handing Ronaldo a starting place.
Since Martinez arrived in 2023 after departing his previous position as head coach of Belgium, Ronaldo has taken part in 36 of Portugal’s 44 matches, with most of his gaps in participation resulting from injury or bans.
Portugal’s largest margin of victory in that period happened in a game Ronaldo missed—a 9-0 demolition of Luxembourg in Faro in September 2023.
Their second most emphatic result, a 9-1 triumph over Armenia in Porto last November, also occurred without Ronaldo on the field.
Predictably, after both encounters, the familiar debate about whether the side performs more cohesively without their captain quickly resurfaced—yet supporters still adore the player “who made us believe in the impossible.”
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