Portugal lost to Spain by a score of 1-0 in the Round of 16 in the 2026 World Cup on July 6. As a result, Cristiano Ronaldo’s international career is over, as he made a statement over the weekend that this World Cup would be his last.
There will always be critics who try to poke holes in Ronaldo’s international resumé, especially because he wasn’t able to bring Portugal a World Cup trophy like his biggest rival, Lionel Messi, did for Argentina.
But Ronaldo has still made Portugal into a global powerhouse that won several major tournaments during his career, including UEFA Euro 2016. He deserves a ton of credit for everything he provided his country during his career, including countless iconic moments.
One person who’s giving Ronaldo all his flowers in the wake of his Portugal retirement is his sister, Katia Aveiro, who is a Portuguese pop singer.
Aveiro made a post to her Instagram story shortly after Portugal’s loss on Monday, where she posted a photo of Ronaldo walking off the pitch on a TV screen with the caption, “Obrigada Cristiano Ronaldo ❤️🇵🇹🇵🇹”. This translates to, “Thank you Cristiano Ronaldo ❤️🇵🇹🇵🇹”.
Ronaldo’s decision doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise, given that Ronaldo is 41 years old. But some expected him to at least try to continue his playing career to the 2030 World Cup, since Portugal is one of the tournament’s host countries.
But that would have been a big ask at this stage in his career, as he’ll likely be retiring from club soccer at some point in the relatively near future as well.
Hopefully now that his Portugal career is all set and done, fans can be more appreciative of what Ronaldo accomplished for his home country.
