Cristiano Ronaldo is playing in his sixth World Cup, but his first half against the Democratic Republic of Congo on June 17, 2026, was widely described as underwhelming. The Portuguese star struggled to influence the match, and online commenters quickly seized on his quiet opening 45 minutes.
Several posts joked that Portugal should bring him on if it wants to win, while others mocked the fact that he was still on the bench. One widely shared message said, “If Portugal wants to win this game, they need to bring Ronaldo on. It’s crazy that he’s still on the bench.” Another post, citing Wayne Rooney, took the opposite view and argued that Ronaldo’s positioning was so clever he was drawing defenders away to create space for João Neves.
The stats shared online highlighted how little Ronaldo produced in the half: 16 touches, no goals, no assists, no shots on target, and no dribbles. Another breakdown said he finished the half with zero goals, zero assists, zero shots, zero chances created, zero big chances created, zero successful take-ons, zero fouls won, and zero duels won, despite Portugal having 80% possession.
Other comments were blunt, including, “The things are NOT going as planned for Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo,” and a French-language post calling him harmless in the first half. The article frames the reaction as a wave of mockery around Portugal’s star after a disappointing opening period in the World Cup match.
