Will he be dropped?
Opposite of Messi – Cristiano Ronaldo’s incredible goal drought in major tournaments
©TM/IMAGO
After his famed adversary Lionel Messi notched a hat-trick in his first appearance at the 2026 World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo endured a hugely frustrating first outing in Portugal’s drab 1-1 draw with Congo. Naturally, Ronaldo is no longer at the peak of his powers at 41 years old but he looked miles from his devastating best as he failed to make an impact against the Africans.
Market Value
Cristiano Ronaldo
Centre-Forward
€10.00m
The Manchester United and Real Madrid legend had the fewest touches of any player who completed the full ninety minutes and he didn’t register a single shot on target. Ronaldo is unquestionably one of the greatest players of all time and his name is already etched in the history books with so many incredible achievements in his iconic career. But his recent record for Portugal makes for alarming reading and it surely must leave Roberto Martínez a major decision for the remainder of the tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s major tournament goal drought
Remarkably, Ronaldo has now gone ten games since scoring in a major tournament for Portugal – the World Cup or the Euros. His blank against Congo continued an unwanted drought for one of the greatest goalscorers in history. Ronaldo’s last goal for Portugal in a major tournament arrived in the opening game of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
As the graphic below illustrates, Ronaldo failed to score another goal across the whole tournament as Portugal crashed out at the quarter-final stage to Morocco The 41-year-old was famously dropped for Gonçalo Ramos for the 6-1 win over Switzerland and the Morocco defeat. But Ronaldo regained his starting role for Euro 2024 but failed to score a single goal, famously missing a penalty against Slovenia in the knockout stages. After another lacklustre display in a major tournament, will Martinez have the courage to drop his captain?
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