Ronaldo Opens His Mouth to Silence Criticism at the 2026 World Cup and is Motivated to Chase Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo made history on Wednesday, June 24, 2021, early in the morning WIB, by becoming the first player to score in six different World Cups when he scored in Portugal’s 5-0 win over Uzbekistan.

Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner aged 41, has gone 10 games without a goal at a major tournament – a record dating back to November 2022 – after failing to score against the Democratic Republic of Congo in midweek.

In the second match of Group K against Uzbekistan, Ronaldo opened the score early with a finish near the goalpost in the sixth minute, before refusing the opportunity to add a second goal through a free kick. The dead ball was then given to Nuno Mendes who scored Portugal’s second goal.

Ronaldo then ran after a breakthrough pass to make it 3-0 before halftime. The lead silenced critics with Portugal’s performance and the captain of Al Nassr.

As is known, Ronaldo and his teammates faced harsh criticism after Portugal drew 1-1 against the Democratic Republic of Congo – with coach Roberto Martinez questioned for continuing to choose Ronaldo as a central striker.

“God helps those who work hard. I know my teammates will help too. It’s been a tough week, a dark week.”

“It feels like I’m retiring from football. However, I’m staying, as I always do, because I believe in hard work more than anything else. It’s hard, I have to admit, but we’re back,” Ronaldo said after the match.

Ronaldo had several chances to score a hat-trick in the second half against Uzbekistan, but failed. Most importantly, Portugal has now collected four points in the group ahead of the final match against Colombia in Miami at the weekend.

The goals mean the Portugal captain, named man of the match, is the first player to score in six different World Cups – 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026.

He is also now the second-oldest scorer in World Cup history (41 years, 138 days), behind Roger Milla in 1994 for Cameroon against Russia (42 years, 39 days).

Portugal’s fourth goal came in the 60th minute when a low shot into the box experienced a series of deflections and finally went into the net after bouncing off Abdukodir Khusanov and Abduvohid Nematov.

The Al Nassr star then forced Nematov into a brilliant save as he continued to chase a hat-trick. Rafael Leao finally completed the party when he fired a hard shot into the top corner after the ball rolled towards him.

“We have improved, that’s life. We face setbacks during the game and in life, but the main goal is always to improve ourselves.”

“That’s what we did. It was a very difficult and heavy week, with a very harsh public opinion against all the players, especially against me and the coach.”

“However, I don’t mind. I’ve been in this profession for 23 years now. Whenever everything goes well, Cristiano does it great, but when everything goes bad, Cristiano retires, he’s too old. It will always be like that.”

“We responded well today. That’s what we wanted. We played with a high defensive line. When we do that, it’s hard to stop Portugal,” said Ronaldo.

This year, Ronaldo and Argentina captain Lionel Messi became the only players in history to play in six World Cup tournaments.

However, Ronaldo stands alone in terms of scoring in every edition, after Messi failed to score at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Ronaldo now has 10 goals at the World Cup and Messi has 18 goals – after a hat-trick in Argentina’s opening match against Algeria and two goals against Austria made him the all-time top scorer in World Cup history.

“I always get there. Sooner or later, I’m there. It’s about continuing the work. I really believe that God helps those who work hard.”

“It’s always been like that in my career, nothing is going to change. I’m very happy. The most important thing is the team, being together with them and with our families. We can’t control other things that come from outside.”

“We know that when we don’t win, we will be attacked. Especially me,” said Ronaldo.

This is likely to be Ronaldo’s last World Cup, after a glittering career that saw him win the Euro with Portugal in 2016 and the Champions League five times, with Manchester United and Real Madrid.

The match against Uzbekistan is Ronaldo’s 230th match in his international career, the most in men’s football history. He has scored 145 goals for Portugal during that period.

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