Cristiano Ronaldo: A Last World Cup and Defiant Legacy

Cristiano Ronaldo did not duck the question. He walked straight into it.

"I am not the player I used to be."

On the eve of Portugal’s World Cup last-16 tie against Spain in Texas, the 41-year-old captain faced the cameras and the noise that has followed him across continents and generations. He confirmed again this will be his last World Cup. He knows the debate raging around him. He can hear it. He just refuses to let it define him.

"I'm not doing too bad," he shot back when asked about his future and the criticism. "You have been trying to kill me for the past 23 years, but you must have seen that is not worth it, it's a waste of time, but you try and try and try and try and try.

"As I said before, [I will stop] when I choose, not when you choose. You always ask the same question.

"This will be my last World Cup, but let's hope tomorrow isn't my last game."

Seven months from turning 42, Ronaldo stands at the edge of his international story. Captain, standard-bearer and symbol of a new Portuguese mentality, the man who dragged his country from plucky outsiders to European champions in 2016 is closer than ever to the final whistle.

A legend under scrutiny

This tournament has split opinion like never before. Three goals on the board, yet long spells where he has drifted on the margins of games. The numbers say one thing; the eyes often say another.

When Ivan Perisic put Croatia ahead in the 53rd minute of the last-32 tie in Toronto, it felt like football was winding up the most brutal of punchlines. Ronaldo’s 232nd appearance for his country, and it looked as if it might be his last.

He refused the script. He buried a penalty for his first-ever World Cup knockout goal, then watched as Roberto Martinez made the call that shook the stadium: the national icon, withdrawn.

Ronaldo’s face told its own story as he walked off. No tantrum, but no disguising the anger. Martinez, though, had his vindication. Goncalo Ramos, the forward widely seen as Ronaldo’s natural heir, came on and sent Portugal through in a wild, breathless finish.

Now the question hangs over Texas: does Ronaldo start against Spain? Or does Martinez hand the stage to the man who seized his moment against Croatia?

Ronaldo left the press room to applause, still defiant, still certain of who he is.

"I am not going to be more Cristiano Ronaldo or less because I win the World Cup," he said. "I even say thanks for the attacks I feel after I turned 40... the criticism is how you grow, so thank you for doing this.

"Whatever happens tomorrow, Cristiano Ronaldo will leave with a clear conscience -- not 100% but 1,000% because in life and football I gave everything."

The numbers, the doubts, the faith

Ronaldo is the all-time leading scorer in international football with 146 goals. He has reshaped Portugal’s footballing identity, turning belief into expectation, turning a small nation into a permanent presence in the latter stages of major tournaments.

At his previous five World Cups, he arrived as untouchable. This time, the calls for him to accept a reduced role grow louder.

"He doesn't play to win, he plays to be the main figure," argued Antonio Simoes, a member of the Portugal side that finished third at the 1966 World Cup. "Do you understand that it's the opposite of Eusebio? Let's call things by their name. I have nothing against him. I can still see, I can still hear and I can still think. But I can't run away from the reality of the facts."

The facts cut both ways.

He has now scored at all six World Cups he has played in. A penalty against Iran in 2006. North Korea in Cape Town in 2010. Ghana in Brasilia in 2014. The unforgettable hat-trick against Spain in Sochi in 2018, then the winner against Morocco in Moscow five days later. A penalty against Ghana in Qatar in 2022. Two more against Uzbekistan in Houston this June. And that pressure-soaked spot-kick against Croatia in Toronto.

He keeps finding the net. Yet the broader data paints a harsher picture.

He has taken 15 shots at this World Cup, almost double any of his team-mates, but has not created a single chance. No player at this tournament has had more attempts without creating one. In three of Portugal’s four matches, he has had fewer than 25 touches – including one cameo from the bench – the lowest totals of his World Cup career. He is averaging his fewest touches per match at any World Cup.

Against Croatia, his only touch in the opposition box was the winning penalty.

His movement tells its own story. He is averaging just 4.4 runs in behind the defence per game, well down on the previous two World Cups, even though he still operates as the lone striker.

Yet the faith endures.

"His leadership and that work in the final third is still one of the best in the world," Martinez insisted when asked why he continues to start Ronaldo.

Since taking over in 2023, the former Belgium coach has used Ronaldo in 36 of Portugal’s 44 games. When he is missing, it is usually because of injury or suspension, not tactical exile.

Intriguingly, Portugal’s two biggest wins of this cycle came without him. A 9-0 demolition of Luxembourg in Faro in September 2023. A 9-1 hammering of Armenia in Porto last November. Each time, the familiar debate roared back to life: are Portugal a better team without their captain?

Many supporters do not want to hear it.

"I feel he should dictate whether he wants to stay on or not," said Angelo, a Portugal fan, before the Croatia match. "What he has done for Portugal as a nation, he should dictate that 100%."

The phenomenon that will not fade

If anyone thought Ronaldo-mania might be slowing down after 23 years, this World Cup has crushed that idea.

Global icon, national treasure – the labels follow him, but they barely capture the scale of it. In Toronto, it was harder to find a Portugal shirt without his name than with it. Before the Croatia game, excitement spilled out of the city and on to the roads, fans briefly bringing one of the main highways to a standstill just to try to glimpse him.

Even those who do not care about football know he is there.

"The local TV and radio have been going nuts about him for days," said the taxi driver on the way from the airport to downtown. "He must be special."

One local fan said she spent an entire month’s wages on a ticket, not for the occasion, but for the man. She wanted to say she had seen Cristiano Ronaldo, in the flesh, at a World Cup.

For Portuguese supporters, the emotion runs even deeper.

"On the world stage we didn't really have anyone after Eusebio," said Joao. "Ronaldo came in and made us dream."

Lucilia put it more bluntly: "People talk about Portugal because of him. He doesn't forget where he's from, he remembers the people. I love him. Ronaldo means more to Portugal than any politician."

Diana is already preparing herself for the inevitable announcement that he is done with international football.

"Of course I'm going to be sad," she said. "The whole world will be sad because it doesn't matter who you support. Ronaldo has had a wonderful career and been an exemplary player.

"I would say to him: 'Well done, Cristiano. Enjoy your retirement. You deserve it after entertaining the world.'

Spain, Texas, and a final act?

So here he is. A 41-year-old forward with three goals, creaking numbers off the ball, and a nation still wrapped around his shoulders. The man who once bent tournaments to his will now fights to prove he still bends games at all.

Martinez has a decision to make. Does he lean again on the legend whose presence still terrifies defenders and electrifies stadiums? Or does he ride the energy of Ramos, the striker who changed the Croatia tie and may represent Portugal’s future?

Ronaldo has already given his answer, in his own way.

"As I said before, [I will stop] when I choose, not when you choose."

Spain await in Texas. The stakes could not be clearer. Win, and the story rolls on. Lose, and this might be the last time the world sees Cristiano Ronaldo on a World Cup pitch.

If this is the final chapter, it will not be written quietly.