Portugal drew 1-1 with DR Congo in their opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the biggest talking point wasn’t the result. It was the 41-year-old striker who stayed on the pitch for the full duration despite contributing almost nothing to the attack.
Roberto Martínez, Portugal’s head coach, used his post-match press conference to mount a defense of his decision to keep Cristiano Ronaldo on the field. His reasoning was straightforward, if circular: the team needed goals, and Ronaldo is the greatest goal scorer in international football history. Therefore, Ronaldo stays.
“It made no sense at all to take off Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the best scorer in history, off the field when we were looking for goals.”
A ten-match goal drought at major tournaments is the kind of statistic that would get most strikers benched. For Ronaldo, it apparently gets you a full 90 minutes and a coach who speaks about you like you just scored a hat trick.
Critics were not gentle. BBC commentator Chris Sutton suggested that Martínez appeared “scared” to substitute Ronaldo. The word “embarrassing” was also thrown around by various pundits assessing Portugal’s performance.
