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January 31, 2026
Ronaldo will arrive at the 2026 World Cup surrounded by doubt and familiarity in equal measure. Age shapes the debate, but tournament format, penalty volume, and Portugal’s evolving structure keep his name firmly in the top-scorer conversation...
The 2026 World Cup will arrive with more variables than any tournament before it. A new format. More matches. More squads. More room for chaos. And somewhere inside that noise sits a familiar question football refuses to let go of: can Cristiano Ronaldo still end a World Cup as the tournament’s top scorer? At first glance, the question feels provocative, even for those who are able to check the odds via 1xbet download application. By 2026, Cristiano Ronaldo will be 41. History rarely smiles on forwards at that age. But World Cups are not governed purely by age curves. They are shaped by structure, minutes, roles, and — above all — volume. And volume is where this conversation becomes serious.
Cristiano Ronaldo - Best moments for Portugal
The expanded World Cup format increases the number of matches for teams that reach the latter stages. A finalist could play eight games. That matters. Ronaldo has never been a player dependent on one explosive performance; he accumulates. Penalties, second balls, late runs, rebounds — these goals count the same as screamers.
Portugal’s likely approach also plays into this. They no longer need Ronaldo to press, drift, or carry phases. His role is narrower and clearer: occupy defenders, attack the box, finish chances. In tournament football, clarity often beats dynamism.
Crucially, Ronaldo remains Portugal’s first-choice penalty taker. In a long tournament with VAR, penalties are not a footnote — they are a lane.
The obvious counterargument is the depth of elite scorers. Players like Mbappé and Kane arrive in their prime, while younger forwards offer unpredictability. But those players often share responsibility. They rotate. They split penalties. They play in systems designed to spread output.
Ronaldo’s case is different. When Portugal score, he is involved more often than not. Even now.
There’s also the durability factor. Ronaldo has built a career on availability. In a World Cup where recovery windows are tight and squad rotation will be aggressive, simply being on the pitch every knockout game is a competitive edge.
Is Ronaldo the favorite? No.
Is the idea unrealistic? Also no.
Top scorer races are rarely decided by reputation. They are decided by group difficulty, penalty volume, and timing. One soft group, one early brace, and suddenly the odds compress.
Below is how the leading contenders currently stack up in early betting markets, factoring role clarity and tournament structure rather than hype.
Ronaldo does not need to dominate games to dominate scorelines. He never has. He needs minutes, penalties, and Portugal reaching the quarterfinals at minimum. That path exists.
At a World Cup designed to produce more goals and more matches, betting against the tournament’s most prolific scorer of all time has never been comfortable. And it still isn’t.
Sometimes history doesn’t repeat itself.
Sometimes it waits.
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Al Nassr is on February 2, against Al Riyadh, for the Saudi Super League. You can watch Al Riyadh vs Al Nassr, Real Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano, Elche vs Barcelona, Chelsea vs West Ham, Leeds United vs Arsenal and Liverpool vs Newcastle, all matches provided from our soccer stream game pages.
Al Nassr next game:
Al Riyadh vs Al Nassr kick-off time (02-02-2026):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 01:30
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+5.30: 23:00
Saudi Arabia (Riyadh) | UTC/GMT+3: 20:30
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+1: 18:30
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+0: 17:30
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 14:30
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-4: 13:30
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-7: 10:30
Sources: ronaldo7.net / goal.com / fifa.com
