Ronaldo’s Portugal career leaves a legacy open to debate

Trophies, tears, records and controversy: Ronaldo’s career with Portugal will leave plenty to debate. His international journey brought highs and setbacks, while discussion of his legacy with the national team will continue. For 23 years, he wore the Portuguese shirt with passion. One question will remain central to any assessment: at his peak, could he have taken Portugal even higher?

Sky Sports says Ronaldo’s brilliance helped deliver some of the national team’s glory days across his 234 international appearances. His record will inevitably be weighed against that of Lionel Messi, a World Cup winner. Sky Sports also describes Ronaldo’s Portugal era as the most successful in the country’s history. The Euro 2016 triumph, Portugal’s only major tournament title, and two Nations League wins stand among its defining moments. An injury forced Ronaldo to watch most of the European Championship final from the touchline, where he encouraged his team-mates.

The showdown with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 2014 World Cup play-off was another landmark. In the second leg, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick while Ibrahimovic scored twice, sending Portugal to Russia at Sweden’s expense. After that match, Ronaldo said: «I know Portugal needed me in these matches and I showed that I am here.»

Ronaldo said he had spent his life working to become the best player in the world. In his international retirement statement, he also wrote: «Today, I realise that my greatest victory was earning the honour of representing the best country in the world.» He captained Portugal 172 times, and also acknowledged that he had not always met expectations: «There were also moments when I couldn’t give the Portuguese people what they so desperately wanted.» He spoke of defeats «that still hurt to remember».

The shortcomings in his record will also fuel discussion. Ronaldo scored only once in four separate World Cups; his first and only goal in a World Cup knockout match came from the penalty spot against Croatia, this summer. At the previous World Cup, however, he scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 win over Switzerland, after falling out with Fernando Santos and being left out of the last-16 tie. Whether a talented Portugal generation could have won more silverware remains an open question.

Comparisons with Messi underline that both players faced criticism for their international careers: Messi was subjected to similar complaints for much of his time with Argentina. His international career ended at the summit, after the 2022 World Cup, two Copa América titles and another World Cup final this year. For Ronaldo, devotion to the national shirt also meant, Sky Sports says, feeling international defeats more sharply than defeats with his clubs. In 2006, his part in the red card shown to his Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney at the World Cup left a mark on England supporters. Ronaldo later revealed eight points he wanted Jesus to make at an apologetic press conference, including a reference to himself as «someone of the stature of Pele or Maradona»: an episode that captures how his confidence and ambition could fuel controversy as well as sporting success.