Ronaldo Confirms 2026 World Cup Will Be His Last
ARLINGTON, Texas: Cristiano Ronaldo’s sometimes playful banter at a rare World Cup press conference resulted in an exchange between the Portuguese superstar and an Argentinian reporter.
On the eve of their last-16 clash with border rival Spain, Ronaldo repeated something he has said at least once before.
The former Manchester City and Real Madrid star’s sixth World Cup will be his last.
“The people who stay with me are the people who love you. I share hotels with staff, with people of Latin origin, and these are amazing memories. There was an Argentinian flight attendant on the flight yesterday. From the way he looked at me, I knew he was Argentinian: ‘I knew from the way he looked at me that you were Argentinian. If you quickly look away, it means you don’t like Cristiano,'” Ronaldo said with a smile on Sunday, through a translator.
“I want to enjoy my last World Cup to the fullest,” Ronaldo said. “I hope tomorrow isn’t my last match. So you can keep attacking me some more.”
Ronaldo made similar comments in a television interview late last year, just months after Portugal won the UEFA Nations League title with an impressive penalty shoot-out victory over Spain.
Most of the questions the 41-year-old was asked during a 25-minute session at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys referenced what everyone in the packed room assumed: This was for Ronaldo.
Before the end, he joked with reporters that they pushed him out the door. However, almost every time he took a philosophical approach.
“There is nothing missing,” Ronaldo said. “God has been very generous to me. He has given me everything I never expected to win, especially in the national team. The same thing personally. So I enjoy every moment. I won’t be more Cristiano or less Cristiano because I won the World Cup. Of course we all have hopes, especially me, and we all want all the conditions to win. But we know only one will win.”
Ronaldo’s World Cup final appearance, whenever it ends, will come eight years after he became the oldest player to score a World Cup hat-trick at the age of 33. This resulted in a 3-3 draw with Spain in the group stage opener, with both football powers failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Portugal is trying to reach the quarter-finals for the second year in a row. The only other time Portugal went deeper was Ronaldo’s run to the semi-finals of his first World Cup in 2006.
Ronaldo scored the tying goal in Portugal’s 2-1 victory over Croatia in the last 32 rounds. Three of the 11 goals he scored in the World Cup came in this tournament. This was a matchup with Croatia’s Luka Modric, in his 40s, who was participating in his fifth World Cup at the age of 40.
“What I’ve done throughout my career is adapt to the nuances of age, knowing that I’m not the player I used to be,” Ronaldo said. “But one thing I can understand very clearly is that nothing has changed because I can still score goals. I hope I can do it tomorrow and if I don’t do it, I hope the others in the team will too.”
