Are Portugal better without Ronaldo - and is he undroppable?
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- Cristiano Ronaldo will feature at a record sixth World Cup in 2026, matching Lionel Messi and Guillermo Ochoa, more than two decades after his senior Portugal debut in a 1-0 win over Kazakhstan in Chaves on 20 August 2003.
- Portugal's two biggest qualifying wins — 9-0 vs Luxembourg in Faro (September 2023) and 9-1 vs Armenia in Porto (November 2024) — both came without Ronaldo, reigniting the home debate over whether the team plays better without him.
- Roberto Martinez has cited 25 goals in Ronaldo's past 31 Portugal appearances as his defence for keeping the captain in the side, dismissing the benching debate as 'lift talk'.
- Ronaldo has scored at each of his five previous World Cups, amassing eight goals — one short of Eusebio's Portuguese record — and has confirmed the 2026 tournament will be his last.
- Fernando Santos was removed as Portugal manager after dropping Ronaldo to the bench at the 2022 World Cup, following a backlash on social media from members of the forward's family.
- The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) announced a February partnership with AVA CR7, a physical recovery company owned by Ronaldo, while projecting record revenue of 161 million euros in its approved 2026-27 budget.
- Portugal open their 2026 World Cup campaign against DR Congo on 17 June, with Ronaldo having featured in 31 of Martinez's 39 games in charge since the Spaniard took over in 2023.
Why it matters: Portugal's two biggest qualifying wins came without Ronaldo, yet benching him carries political risk — Fernando Santos lost his job in 2022 for the same move. With the FPF commercially tied to Ronaldo's brand and projecting record 161m-euro revenue, Martinez faces both a sporting and institutional minefield in his captain's final World Cup.
