Ronaldo Under Fire After Portugal’s Final Warmup Win

Portugal wrapped up its final tune-up for the 2026 World Cup last night, Wednesday, with a narrow 2-1 victory over Nigeria in Leiria. Despite the win, as usual, much of the attention went to captain Cristiano Ronaldo.

The 41-year-old, who is expected to lead the team’s attack at his sixth World Cup, showed worrying form in front of goal and endured a frustrating evening that raised fresh questions about him ahead of the tournament. Major media outlets around the world criticized the star’s poor display.

Spain’s As wrote that Ronaldo had “a night he will want to forget,” after once again failing to convert chances into goals, a direct continuation of his performance against Chile. Goal described the display as a “nightmare” and noted that the player had lost his lethal touch and squandered several “golden opportunities.” France24 also criticized him, writing that Ronaldo simply wasted clear chances for his national team. The French network added: “There are those who fear that his presence will prevent Roberto Martinez’s strong team from thriving at the World Cup.”

On the other hand, former teammate Rio Ferdinand was quick to defend Ronaldo: “People need to calm down, it was only a friendly. Judging Cristiano Ronaldo based on a game like this is simply ridiculous. The games that really matter are the ones played on the biggest stage. When the World Cup starts, you’ll see a completely different Ronaldo. Right now, everyone needs to cool it and stop overreacting.”

Portugal coach Roberto Martinez explained after the match why he replaced all the outfield players at halftime except Ronaldo, who stayed on until the 63rd minute: “The individual plan for each player is a combination of all the information we have about him and what he is capable of giving. It is not about 90 minutes, but about what you bring into those minutes. The monitoring includes data on their match load at their clubs, and that is what we use to build the plans.”