"It would be cool if Cristiano Ronaldo wins the World Cup with Portugal before retiring from football." That's Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, speaking ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix — and honestly, it's a more interesting take than most football pundits have managed lately.
Leclerc, who was also venting about Italy's failure to qualify, clearly follows the game closely enough to have a genuine opinion. And the opinion isn't irrational. Portugal's 2026 squad isn't a nostalgia project built around a fading icon. Roberto Martínez has named Ronaldo to a 27-man roster that includes Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, and Rafael Leão — a core that could hurt any team in the tournament on a given day.
This Portugal squad is built differently
The previous versions of this team leaned on Ronaldo to manufacture chances out of nothing, to drag them through qualification on sheer will. That's not the ask anymore. With genuine quality across the pitch, he can operate closer to what he is at 40 — a penalty box predator, a set-piece threat, a player who doesn't need 90 minutes of involvement to decide a match.
It's a smarter deployment. And it makes Portugal's odds worth a second look going into North America.
Ronaldo arrives at this tournament sitting on 973 official senior career goals across club and country, with 36 major team trophies spanning England, Spain, Italy, and Saudi Arabia. Before he broke through internationally, Portugal had qualified for just three World Cups in their entire history. He changed the trajectory of the national team almost single-handedly, delivered Euro 2016, added the Nations League in 2019.
The one gap on the list is the World Cup. He knows it. Everyone knows it.
The final is July 19 — Ronaldo intends to be there
This is a record sixth World Cup appearance. He's not going as a ceremonial figurehead, and Martínez isn't treating him like one. Whether Portugal have enough to beat the best teams in the world across seven matches is a legitimate question — but the squad structure at least gives them a credible answer.
Leclerc's Italy won't be there to find out. Portugal will.
