Real Madrid Legend Cristiano Ronaldo Retires From International Football

Around this time a month ago, aside from Manchester City and their 114 charges, the biggest story in football was Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portugal national team. 

Having started in Portugal's first game in the UEFA Nations League as 24/25 defending Champions against Wales, Ronaldo was then an unused sub in their next game against Norway. 

This did not go down well with the 41-year old. Manager Jorge Jesus had told him the plan was to play 20-30 minutes in the second half, but the particular game state meant that the plans changed, and Jesus said he will not compromise for any individual, including the great Ronaldo. 

As a result, there had been much speculation about his international future, though Jesus and the Portuguese Football Federation both publicly said that the door was open for Ronaldo to return if he wished to. 

However, it turns out he does not. Indeed so, as on Thursday, the 5th of November 2026, the Real Madrid legend has officially announced his retirement from international football after 23 years of playing for Portugal. 

In that time, he represented his nation 234 times, scoring 146 goals, both of which are all time international records. Not just for Portugal, but for any nation. He won the Euros in 2016 as well as the Nations League in 2019 and 2025. 

During those 23 years, he represented Portugal at six different World Cups, scoring in all six of them, which is once again another record. However he did have some complicated tournaments, being grouped by the USA in 2014 and failing to score a knockout goal in all bar one edition, in 2026, where he scored a penalty against Croatia. 

His first ever international tournament was Euro 2004 on home soil, where he helped the Portuguese reach the final, though they lost at home to heavy outsiders Greece 1-0 in the final.

Nevertheless, it has been a very good innings on the international stage for Ronaldo. The longevity is pretty incredible. To put it into context, for the national team he has played with Fernando Couto (born in 1969) and Joao Neves (born in 2004). 

So, although it has been a pretty ugly, and some would say belatedly, you can't deny it has been some career with Portugal. He can now rest up during international breaks and keep himself fresh with AL-Nassr to try and finally reach that 1000th goal of his career. Let's see.