Video: Thierry Henry slams selfish Cristiano Ronaldo antics as Portugal start World Cup with draw

Arsenal and France legend Thierry Henry criticised Cristiano Ronaldo for seeming more focused on getting goals for himself than for his team as Portugal drew with DR Congo yesterday.

The 41-year-old is still going strong despite his age, with his performances with Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League getting him close to a remarkable 1000 career goals.

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Still, it wasn’t Ronaldo’s day yesterday as Portugal could only draw 1-1 with Congo in a disappointing start to their 2026 World Cup campaign.

He’s playing as a 9, but he’s never been a 9 and he’s not acting as a 9. Not giving Portugal those traits and it hurt them today. pic.twitter.com/yjSaOK2J5J

— Marc Geschwind (@MarcGeschwind) June 17, 2026

Really good analysis from Henry. This is the Ronaldo issue right now.

He’s playing as a 9, but he’s never been a 9 and he’s not acting as a 9. Not giving Portugal those traits and it hurt them today. pic.twitter.com/yjSaOK2J5J

— Marc Geschwind (@MarcGeschwind) June 17, 2026

“One thing that’s important … the team needs to score, not you need to score,” Henry said.

“Cristiano Ronaldo has been in this situation multiple times – if you make the run here then you make the defender take a decision, but because he wants to score he goes into the path of Bruno Fernandes.”

Henry added that if Ronaldo had instead made the run into the six yard box, the defender would have had to follow him, leaving space for Fernandes.

The Frenchman even said you could see the frustrated reaction of his teammates.

Cristiano Ronaldo struggles as Lionel Messi shines at World Cup

It’s just one game, but you just know there are going to be the usual big debates about Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, with the latter making a dream start to the World Cup.

While Ronaldo looked like a weak link for Portugal in their draw with Congo, Messi was in unplayable form to hit a hat-trick for Argentina in their win against Algeria.

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Messi won the World Cup with Argentina in 2022, scoring twice in the final victory over France, while Ronaldo has never won this competition.

This year will surely be Ronaldo’s last chance to do so, but at the moment there are surely serious questions about if he should even be starting games for his country anymore.

Messi, meanwhile, looks like he’s still good enough to guide Argentina to glory again.