Is Cristiano Ronaldo washed? Portugal sticks by him in face of criticism

HOUSTON — Cristiano Ronaldo has heard your complaints.

Following Portugal‘s shocking 2026 World Cup debut 1-1 draw with Congo, a cascade of criticism and disappointment pierced Portugal‘s World Cup bubble.

Before they returned to Houston for their second group stage game against Uzbekistan on Tuesday, June 23, Portugal players spent six days sitting with those feelings.  

“We know we failed,” Portugal defender João Cancelo said on Monday, June 22. “We were quite sad after the match because everybody was disappointed with the match that we played – and rightly so, because we were actually the favorites and we wanted to start out doing well in this World Cup, with the right foot, so to speak.”

Most of the criticism was aimed at Ronaldo, the global superstar whose impact on the Congo game barely registered. So how did the 41-year-old Portugal captain react?  

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“He’s a captain so he reacts as a captain, meaning with a lot of experience,” Portugal coach Roberto Martínez said. “It is the sixth time he plays a World Cup and he is a player who’s been defending and playing for his country for a long time, so he really wants to keep on improving, to keep contributing. And he’s really a role model for our team.”

Ronaldo is undoubtedly one of the most decorated and accomplished soccer players in history – but at 41 and playing in his sixth World Cup, are experience and legacy all he has left to offer?

In Portugal’s draw with Congo, Ronaldo was at best ineffective and at worst invisible. He played 90 minutes and took three shots (none on target), won one duel and had 25 touches. According to ESPN FC, it was the second-fewest touches Ronaldo has ever had in a World Cup start.

After the game, Martínez blamed Ronaldo’s lack of touches on Portugal’s offensive execution, saying, “We didn’t really make it to the final third on the level required to really help that leading attacker and to utilize those movements on the pitch.”

Martínez also said he did not consider subbing Ronaldo off in the second half.

“I think obviously in a game like today that we were finding it difficult to get into the box – Congo had a back five that at times was even a back six; they accumulated a lot of players – you can use the qualities of Cristiano Ronaldo,” Martínez said. “It makes no sense to get the best goalscorer in world football out in a game where you need goals.”

Ronaldo hasn’t lived up to that billing for several years in major tournaments. Although he scored eight times during Portugal’s 2025 Nations League title run, Ronaldo has failed to score in his last 10 World Cup or European Championship games. His last goal for the national team in a major tournament was in Portugal’s first game of the 2022 World Cup, when he converted a penalty kick in a 3-2 win over Ghana.

On Monday, Martínez said that Portugal’s style of play depends on the team’s ability to overwhelm opponents in the final third and insisted Ronaldo helps create opportunities to do so.

“Cristiano is the best one to do that,” Martínez said. “The numbers support this of this iconic player that is Cristiano Ronaldo. If you look at the last 32 games, he is the player that has extra movement, opening spaces and finding pockets.”

Ronaldo’s performance this World Cup is especially lackluster in contrast to his rival Lionel Messi, who scored all five of Argentina‘s goals in its first two World Cup matches. Messi and France‘s Kylian Mbappe are superstars who flourish under the spotlight, but Ronaldo seems to shrink in it.

Asked by a Brazilian journalist about criticism faced by Ronaldo and by Neymar, the Brazilian superstar who missed Brazil’s first two World Cup matches due to injury, Cancelo was definitive.

“I think that both Neymar and Cristiano do not need to prove anything to anyone,” Cancelo said. “They’re so talented, both players, and what they do in football speaks for itself. And I think that both Neymar and Cristiano know what they are and what they represent to their countries, and I think there’s not much more to say regarding that.”

While Neymar hasn’t shown up literally on the pitch, Ronaldo was absent figuratively. He rarely directly created chances for others and squandered multiple opportunities to score an equalizing goal against Congo. On one occasion, he pounced on a pass and shot it wide of the goal instead of leaving it for Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes, who was unmarked.

Whether or not that was intentional is unclear since Ronaldo and most Portugal players, including Fernandes, did not speak to reporters in the mixed zone after the game.

One bad game at this World Cup does not undo Ronaldo’s past achievements, nor does it necessarily determine Portugal’s fate in the tournament. Argentina lost its World Cup opener in 2022 and went on to win the whole thing; Spain also rebounded to win the 2010 World Cup after losing its first game.

Cancelo said Portugal players were determined not to let storm clouds from the opener hang over their heads for the Uzbekistan game.

“I saw that all of the players were motivated and wanted to provide a response,” Cancelo said. “We will try and stay positive and this is what matters, because these criticisms are not beneficial to us.”

Martínez said that criticism is a normal part of the game and declared that it did not have a negative effect on his team.

“We are very much focused, we are strong and I can say that my group is very much more united than before,” Martínez said. “It is a process. We have been working for 21 days and tension is not part of our team.”

Martínez referenced Ronaldo’s experience again while explaining how the captain set the tone for Portugal to refocus.

“The way he recovers, the way he prepares, the way he trains, he’s a good example for us, for all of us,” Martínez said. “That doesn’t take away the feeling of frustration that we all have as a team, the feeling of disappointment after the game, and probably that’s the best starting point to prepare the next game. And I do feel that tomorrow we’re gonna have a team that’s going to be ready from the beginning and will be able to learn and use the lessons of the first game.”

Time will tell, though, if Ronaldo can set the tone for Portugal on the pitch.