It feels fitting that the international careers of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi conclude at the same time.
Their careers have been so closely intertwined, exchanging records, international honours and Ballons d’Or, and while best remembered for what they did at club level, both leave significant legacies with their national side.
For the more unassuming Messi, he wants to call time on his own terms. Unable to continue after his father’s death and his 2026 World Cup final loss, Messi will have a swansong against Benin where the nation that took so long to accept him will pay an emotional tribute to the player widely regarded as the best to play the game.
For the less unassuming Ronaldo, he also wants to call time on his own terms. The difference is, he’s made his decision several years too late.
While Messi was still at his glorious best at the 2022 World Cup, and still running the show for Argentina albeit at a greatly reduced physical capacity at the 2026 World Cup, seeing Ronaldo represent Portugal in his latter years has become increasingly difficult to watch.
From the flying winger at Manchester United to the predatory goalscorer at Real Madrid, Ronaldo spent more than a decade as one of the two best players in the world. But as his physical gifts diminished, so too did Ronaldo’s technical ability.
Despite an impressive hat-trick against Spain, it was clear for all to see that Ronaldo was on the wane at the 2018 World Cup. By the 2022 World Cup, Ronaldo was largely reduced to the role of passenger/penalty-scorer. So poor was Ronaldo that Fernando Santos made the bold call of dropping the superstar in favour of Goncalo Ramos for the round of 16 tie with Switzerland.
Ramos would score a hat-trick, taking his tally for World Cup knockout goals to three, moving three ahead of Ronaldo in the process.
Ronaldo was then introduced as a 51st-minute substitute against surprise package Morocco, who won 1-0. Five days after dropping Ronaldo for a second successive game, Santos was sacked.
Many will blame Roberto Martinez for Portugal’s recent failings; perhaps fairly so. Somehow being given the opportunity to manager Belgium’s golden generation, Martinez was given a second crack of the whip with Portugal, and Ronaldo’s status as a starter was restored.
As the years ticked by with Portugal boasting perhaps their greatest-ever collection of players, it seemed clear to everyone bar Martinez and Ronaldo himself that Ronaldo no longer had a place in the side. Martinez himself probably knew, but couldn’t bring himself to challenge an ego bigger than the country itself.
Ronaldo was goalless in five games at Euro 2024, blanking against the might of the Czech Republic, Turkey, Georgia and Slovenia before being dumped out on penalties against France.
Things were more unedifying still at the 2026 World Cup. Now in his 40s, Ronaldo’s continued participation in the American showpiece resembled a marketing tool at an exhibition, unable to run or turn or do anything that made him a threat.
Unable to bring himself to drop Ronaldo, Martinez attempted the impossible in winning a World Cup with Ronaldo. When that failed, he paid with his job.
Jorge Jesus is now in charge of the national side, and seeing the most obvious issue with Portugal, quickly rectified it.
Ronaldo played in the 1-0 win over Wales, and despite being told he’d come on as a sub against Norway, was left as an unused substitute, with Jesus rightly feeling unable to trust Ronaldo with his side holding a slender one-goal lead to a talented side.
Ronaldo, seemingly furious at the snub, quit the national team, leaving camp in an all-too-familiar act of petulance.
Erik ten Hag got lots wrong at Manchester United, but standing up to Ronaldo was one of his finer achievements, leading to the Portuguese essentially quitting after a sensational interview in which he took shots at the club’s manager.
Similar seems to have happened with Portugal. Not so much a blessing in disguise as a blessing in broad daylight, Jesus’s toughest decision might have been made for him.
Portugal’s is not a squad lacking in world-class players and no doubt the egos that come with that: Ruben Dias, Nuno Mendes, Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha to name a few; Jesus is expected to manage that collection of players while massaging the ego of a player who cannot face his new reality.
Ronaldo, a player who wasn’t good enough for Manchester United five years ago, and was snubbed by anyone half decent in Europe upon his exit, certainly isn’t good enough for Portugal now.
Luckily for the nation, they have a manager who is not only aware of that, but willing to act upon it, too.
The Euros may still be two years away, but it feels like Portugal have a legitimate shot at international glory once again.
