Cristiano Ronaldo may well have played in his last big competitive match for his country as Portugal exited Euro 2024 on penalties against a less-than-inspiring France in Hamburg on Friday evening. Ronaldo, who has spent over 480 minutes on the pitch in the competition, appeared exhausted at the end of it all. His carefree and jovial demeanor during the anthem some two hours before the game finished had masked the tiredness of a footballer who is well past his prime.
Ronaldo will be 41 when the next major tournament rolls around—the 2026 World Cup, jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Can he stick around until then? The jury is out. He is still the captain of his country, the holder of a men’s record of 130 international goals and 212 international appearances.
He is still churning out full-time games for Portugal. The only time he didn’t complete a match at Euro 2024 was in the group stage against Georgia, when he came off in the 66th minute with Portugal assured of advancing. He played the entire 120 minutes against Slovenia and France. And he still clearly commands the respect of his teammates and coach, Robert Martinez.
Yet Ronaldo, who now plays his club football out of the global spotlight in Saudi Arabia, has now gone eight games without a goal in major tournaments. That takes in all five of Portugal’s matches at Euro 2024 and its final three at the World Cup in Qatar. He had 23 attempts at Euro 2024, none of which were fructified.
On Friday evening in Hamburg, he was almost completely shackled by France center-backs William Saliba and Dayot Upameca, with Ronaldo’s only clear chance coming in extra time. It wasn’t enough when he finally escaped his marker but couldn’t hook a shot on target from a cross from the right. Rafael Leao made several bursts down the left, but Ronaldo lacked the pace to keep up with the 25-year-old.
Milan winger. Portugal needed runners in behind, but Ronaldo’s leaden feet were too slow for that.
At times, he remained offside behind the France back four, miffed at not having gotten the ball. On one occasion, Joao Cancelo whipped a ball that was begging to be tapped in by a Lineker-like goalkeeper, but all that what Ronaldo managed to do was stand still on the edge of the 18-yard box.