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The career of one of the greatest players to ever step on the pitch, Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo, is likely nearing its end — and FOX Sports' Kasper Schmeichel, who was a goalkeeper for Denmark, thinks it will be hard for the 41-year-old to come to grips with that reality.
"I know exactly what he's feeling right now," Schmeichel said about Ronaldo after Portugal was eliminated from the 2026 World Cup by Spain on Monday. "It means everything to play for your country. Look at his body language. It hits you, and it hits you harder than you're ever going to expect.
"Even at his age, I don't care how many goals you scored or how many trophies you've got, that's not his mentality. His mentality is the next one. Wants to win, wants to keep going, wants to prove that he still is the best."
Ronaldo and Portugal advanced through Group K of the 2026 World Cup after going 1-2-0 in group play. Then, following a win over Croatia in the round of 32, they were eliminated by Lamine Yamal and Spain in the round of 16. Following Portugal's defeat, Ronaldo said this was his "last" World Cup but that he's still mulling his future in the sport elsewhere.
The 2026 World Cup marked the sixth such tournament Ronaldo played in for Portugal, with the club being unable to claim a tournament triumph in any of those six years (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026). Ronaldo scored three goals across Portugal's five matches this tournament, highlighted by a brace against Uzbekistan in the group stage.
The superstar striker has 11 career World Cup goals and stands first all time with 976 career goals across a combined 1,326 games.
"I think, at the moment, Cristiano is realizing that he's not going to play in the World Cup again. Those stadiums, you're not going to be able to play in them again. That's a really, really tough thing, and that's something I haven't come to terms with yet," Schmeichel said. "It's an ongoing process. But I think he's the type of guy that he'll want to keep going. He'll want to keep playing, and he doesn't need to, but he does it because he loves it. He loves the game. He's physically still able to play.
"Having it not taken away from you, but there are four years until another World Cup, so the chances are he's not going to be there, and that will be really, really difficult to take."
Ronaldo has spent the last four years at Al-Nassr FC in the Saudi Pro League, averaging 29.3 goals per season over the last three years and helping them win the league title in the 2025-26 season.
Of course, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner and eight-time Domestic League champion has two stints at Manchester United (Premier League) and stints with Real Madrid (La Liga), Juventus (Serie A) and Sporting CP (Primeira Liga) under his belt.
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