 |
|
October 5, 2025
Cristiano Ronaldo will be 41 when the 2026 World Cup begins, but he isn’t ready to fade away just yet. Portugal is building for the future, yet the captain’s presence still looms large in their plans.
Cristiano Ronaldo will walk into the 2026 World Cup at an age few strikers ever reach on the international stage. He’ll be 41. That alone makes the conversation around him different. He’s still Portugal’s captain, still a presence who bends games, but the idea that he can carry the team for a full tournament is long gone. The question is: where exactly does he fit in a side that is already moving toward the future? And for fans following Portugal’s chances, sites like https://mightytips.ph/ are already buzzing with predictions. It’s a reminder that Ronaldo’s story isn’t just sporting drama — it’s shaping betting conversations worldwide too.
Cristiano Ronaldo - Viva la Vida
🗣️ Cristiano Ronaldo: “I think I will be available for Portugal in the 2026 World Cup.” 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/ULDe74RSRX
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) July 7, 2024
For the better part of two decades, Portugal leaned on Ronaldo to do the heavy lifting. That’s no longer the case. Roberto Martínez has spread the load, and you can see it in the way the team plays. Bruno Fernandes is often the one threading passes. Rúben Dias holds things together at the back. João Palhinha does the dirty work in midfield that makes everyone else look good.
And up front, there are legs Ronaldo can’t match anymore. Gonçalo Ramos is hungry, Rafael Leão stretches defenses with raw pace, and even João Félix, inconsistent as he is, gives you a different look. This Portugal isn’t short of attacking ideas. That’s why Ronaldo’s role needs to be trimmed to what he still does best.
Nobody expects Ronaldo to press defenders for 90 minutes. What he still brings is timing. The right run at the right moment. The finish when the ball drops in the box. If Martínez is brave, he won’t start him in every game. Sometimes the smarter play is keeping him on the bench until the last half hour, when opponents are tired and one chance could settle everything.
It won’t be easy. Ronaldo has never seen himself as a substitute. The fans too will demand to see his name on the team sheet. But the World Cup isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about winning, and the younger legs give Portugal the intensity it needs to get through the grind of a long tournament.
| APPEARANCES | GOALS | ASSISTS |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 8 | 2 |
There’s also a side of Ronaldo that doesn’t show up on the stats sheet. Younger teammates talk about how he prepares — the way he trains, the way he eats, the way he obsesses over recovery. It raises the standards for everyone else.
When Gonçalo Ramos scored that hat trick against Switzerland at the 2022 World Cup, it felt like the baton was passed. Yet even Ramos admitted afterwards that having Ronaldo around lifted the whole group. That kind of influence doesn’t fade just because he isn’t scoring 40 goals a season anymore.
Of course, there’s a gamble in taking a 41-year-old striker to a World Cup. One injury could throw the balance off. Overplaying him could slow Portugal down. And there’s always the danger of trying too hard to make him fit when the team might actually play freer without him.
But there’s also the flip side: the image of Ronaldo stepping up one last time on the biggest stage, delivering a goal that pushes Portugal into the next round. If it happens, it would be the perfect closing scene to an international career that has already stretched the imagination.
This World Cup doesn’t need to be about Ronaldo dominating every match. It can be about him supporting a new core — Leão, Ramos, Vitinha, Fernandes — while still finding ways to matter. Even a handful of decisive moments would be enough to remind everyone why he’s lasted this long.
Portugal’s 2026 blueprint isn’t about letting go of the past. It’s about weaving it into the present. And if Ronaldo accepts that role, his final World Cup could end up being less of a farewell and more of a handover.
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Portugal is on October 11, against Ireland, for the the World Cup Qualifiers. You can watch Portugal vs Ireland, Juventus vs AC Milan, Sevilla vs Barcelona, Brentford vs Manchester City, Newcastle vs Nottingham Forest and FC Porto vs Benfica, all matches provided from our soccer streaming game pages.
Portugal next game:
Portugal vs Ireland kick-off time (11-10-2025):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+7: 02:45
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+4.30: 00:15
Saudi Arabia (Riyadh) | UTC/GMT+2: 21:45
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+1: 20:45
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+0: 19:56
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 16:45
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-4: 15:45
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-7: 12:45
Sources: ronaldo7.net / sportbible.com / nytimes.com
