Cristiano Ronaldo said the latest football scores in his career timeline now point to one final World Cup, with Sunday’s remarks putting the 2026 World Cup on the clock for him. The Portugal star said he expects that tournament to be his last, even as he heads into a round of 16 match with Spain.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal
Ronaldo made the point at his media availability ahead of Portugal’s round of 16 clash with Spain. He did not frame Monday as a farewell, though, saying he is not thinking about the significance of the match.
“Hopefully, hopefully tomorrow is not going to be my last World Cup match. Hopefully. Y’all (the media) can kill me a bit more. TRY to kill me,” he said. “You don’t want to see me here any more?”
His comments leave the immediate match separate from the longer arc of his international career. Portugal now goes into a knockout game while its captain has already set a horizon for the end of his World Cup run.
World Cup and
The 2026 World Cup is the largest ever, with 32 remaining teams placed into a bracket once the knockout stage begins. From there, the tournament becomes single-elimination, and the two semifinal losers play in a third-place game ahead of the World Cup final.
Ronaldo is 41 and remains under contract with Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr until 2027, so the calendar around his retirement is split in two: one finish line for the World Cup and another for his club career. He has also been blunt about the broader time frame, saying, “In life, in soccer, I’ve given everything I have.”
He added, “The day will come, the day will come!” and then narrowed the likely span of that exit by saying, “But of course, let's be honest. What I mean by soon, it’s probably one or two years,” which puts his international ending in view without making Monday a final stop.
For Portugal, the immediate task is Spain. For Ronaldo, the long view now runs to 2026, with one more World Cup likely standing between the end of his international career and whatever comes after at Al-Nassr.
