Cristiano Ronaldo looked right down the lens of the television camera and proclaimed to the world: "I’m back! I’m back!"
To observers of the 2025-26 Roshn Saudi League, they probably thought "were you ever away?"
OK, the Al Nassr captain hadn’t found the net in Portugal’s opening encounter of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, when the reigning UEFA Nations League champions were held to a shock 1-1 draw by DR Congo.
Ronaldo, given his role as both leader and football’s lightning rod, was especially criticised. Should he not have pulled his team to victory? Should he have even started the game in the first place?
Cristiano Ronaldo scores for Portugal v Uzbekistan at 2026 FIFA World Cup
But, on Tuesday night in Houston, football’s widely considered GOAT did what he’s spent the past three-and-a-half years doing in Saudi Arabia. Ronaldo responded to the naysayers, netting twice to propel his side to a thumping win.
What's more, he set a fresh record at football's marquee tournament, then collected Man of the Match honours.
That’s right, the opener in the Group K clash with Uzbekistan etched Ronaldo's name into the history books once more: now aged 41, he stands as the only player to score in six separate World Cups.
Al Nassr captain Cristiano Ronaldo nets double for Portugal v Uzbekistan at 2026 FIFA World Cup
Asked after the 5-0 victory about his "I'm back" comment, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner said it was "only so [his critics] don't forget – 23 years [doing] like this".
The message was clear: doubt him now. Ronaldo’s sweeping finish six minutes into the contest – it was laid on by Al Hilal’s Joao Cancelo – means he has scored at 11 different major international tournaments. That's five more than any other European player in history.
Coming after a season in which he struck 28 times to guide Al Nassr – finally – to a first RSL title in seven years, Ronaldo wasn’t ever going to be counted out for long.
Cristiano Ronaldo lifts the RSL trophy with his ecstatic Al Nassr teammates
"It felt like I was already retired from football," said the two-time RSL golden boot winner, who with the brace at NRG Stadium climbed to 975 professional career goals. “But I held on as I always do, because I believe in hard work above everything else.
"I'm not going to [retire], I have to confess. But we are back."
Ronaldo added: "We took a lot of criticism. We knew that was going to happen. But the team worked really well.
Cristiano Ronaldo takes in the moment he finally gets hands on RSL trophy
"Every cloud has a silver lining, as they say. Obviously, speaking about myself, it's always nice to break records, but my main goal is to be able to help the national team, achieve its goals and, in this stage, it's to qualify from the group stage. I think with four points we are already through, so I'm very happy.
"I knew God rewards those who work. I knew my teammates were going to help as well. It was a difficult week, a dark week."
With the win, Portugal sit second in Group K, two points back from Colombia. The two sides meet in the pool's final match, in Miami, in the early hours of Sunday morning.
