Cristiano Ronaldo is preparing for his sixth World Cup finals with Portugal, and at 41 it may be his last shot at the one trophy that has escaped one of modern football's defining careers. Paolo Maldini, Johan Cruyff, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar stand among the game's great players who have never won the World Cup.
Ronaldo once brushed off the weight of his numbers with a line that has followed him ever since.
I don't follow records, records follow me.
He has scored the most goals in Champions League history with 140, and the most international goals with 143. He has five Ballon d'Or trophies, more than any other European, and finished runner-up six times. Across more than 1,300 senior appearances over 24 years, he has collected 35 major trophies. He has not won the World Cup.
Ronaldo turned 41 in February. This tournament is his sixth World Cup finals with Portugal and, by his stage of career, the final opportunity. Portugal are ranked fifth by FIFA at the time of writing. They have an experienced, talented squad that should in theory ease through an initial group featuring DR Congo, Uzbekistan and Colombia.
Portugal's Path Into the Finals
Portugal reached the quarter-finals in their last two major competitions. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Morocco beat them 1-0 and Ronaldo came on as a second half substitute. At Euro 2024 in Germany, France eliminated them in the last eight on penalties. Ronaldo scored his attempt in the shootout.
In qualifying for these finals, Portugal won their UEFA group. The group included the Republic of Ireland, Hungary and Armenia. Portugal hammered Armenia 9-1 in the last qualifier. Ronaldo was absent for that match, but Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Neves and Vitinha were in the squad. Portugal have arguably the best midfield on the globe and know how to retain possession in hot circumstances.
That backdrop gives Ronaldo hope heading into what could be his last World Cup. He will be fully aware that the closest he and his countrymen came to a World Cup final in his era was his first tournament in Germany in 2006, when he was 21, not 41. Portugal lost their semi-final to France on a Zinedine Zidane penalty. There have been no real Portuguese near misses since.
Euro 2016 and World Cup Heartbreak
Portugal's fortunes have been different in Europe. With Ronaldo in peak Real Madrid CR7 form, they won the 2016 European Championship in France. It remains Portugal's one and only major tournament trophy and was a huge achievement.
In the four World Cup attempts since Germany 2006, however, Ronaldo has experienced individual and collective disappointment.
At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the squad managed by Carlos Queiroz played four games. They scored in only one of them. Portugal drew 0-0 with Ivory Coast, drew 0-0 with Brazil, and beat North Korea 7-0. Ronaldo was named man of the match in all three group games. In the last 16 in Cape Town, Spain beat Portugal 1-0. Spain went on to win the tournament. Ronaldo did score Portugal's seventh goal in the 7-0 win over North Korea.
Four years later in Brazil, Portugal's first group opponents Germany beat them 4-0. Germany would also become overall winners. Portugal drew 2-2 with the United States. They beat Ghana 2-1 in their final group match with a late Ronaldo winner, but finished third on goal difference and were eliminated before the knockout phase.
Russia 2018 brought Spain again in Portugal's group. In the opening match in Sochi, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in an enthralling 3-3 draw. He then scored the only goal in the next game against Morocco. A 1-1 draw with Iran completed the group stage. Portugal faced Uruguay in the last 16 and lost 2-1.
Qatar 2022 and the 2026 Outlook
By Qatar 2022, Ronaldo was 37, back at Manchester United and had just fallen out with manager Erik ten Hag. He started his fifth World Cup finals with a goal against Ghana from the penalty spot. Portugal's run ended in the quarter-finals when Morocco beat them 1-0, with Ronaldo used as a second half substitute.
Ronaldo may not be a national starter any more, but he returns for a sixth finals at 41 with a Portugal side ranked fifth globally and backed by a midfield group that includes Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Neves and Vitinha. The group stage pairs them with DR Congo, Uzbekistan and Colombia. Everything in Ronaldo's international career points to this as the last window to add a World Cup to a resume already stacked with Champions League records, Ballon d'Or honors and that lone European Championship from 2016.
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