Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal were eliminated from the 2022 World Cup on Saturday at the hands of Morocco — raising the possibility that the 37-year-old will never play in a World Cup again.
Ronaldo started both of Portugal’s games in the knockout stages from the bench, coming on as a second-half substitute for his nation. But he failed to score on either appearance, which included the 6-1 win over Switzerland and the 1-0 loss to Morocco.
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The unattached forward has, somewhat incredibly, never scored a knockout goal at a World Cup — and given he will be 41 by the time the next edition of the competition comes around, there is a chance he will never do so before he retires from international football.
Here’s what you need to know about his exit.
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Cristiano Ronaldo - what happens now?
Wait, he’s never scored in the knockout stages?
That’s right. Ronaldo has appeared at five World Cup tournaments, playing eight games in total in the knockout stages of those competitions.
During his appearances at the World Cup in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022, he only scored in the group stage. In 2014, Portugal did not advance out of their group with Ronaldo struggling with injuries.
Portugal have never won the World Cup, and Ronaldo has never helped the team past the semi-final stage, which they reached in 2006.
When has he scored his goals?
All eight of his World Cup goals have come in the group stage.
He scored against Iran in 2006, North Korea in 2010 and Ghana in 2014. In 2018, he scored a hat-trick against Spain and a single goal against Morocco.
At this year’s tournament, he scored against Ghana — but he also unsuccessfully claimed a headed goal against Uruguay.
Why did Ronaldo suddenly lose his place in Portugal’s starting XI?
Where to start. A disgruntled Ronaldo was substituted in the 65th minute of Portugal’s final group game against South Korea.
He put his finger to his lips and made the universal gesture for “be quiet”.
He later claimed that he was responding to Korea’s Cho Gue-sung telling him to hurry up and get off the pitch, but whatever the reason, it’s not the first time the 37-year-old has reacted furiously to being brought off mid-game.
What was Portugal manager Fernando Santos’ reaction?
Portugal’s boss Fernando Santos, speaking about the incident ahead of the clash against Switzerland, said: “Have I seen the images? Yes, I didn’t like it, not at all. I didn’t like it. I really didn’t like it. But from that moment onwards everything is finished regarding that issue. These matters are resolved behind closed doors. It’s resolved.
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“Full stop on this matter and now everyone is focused on tomorrow’s match.”
Santos would not say whether Ronaldo would captain Portugal for the rest of the competition, saying: “I only decide who is going to be captain when I reach the stadium. I still don’t know what the line-up will be. That’s what I’ve always done and that’s what I’m always going to do and it’s going to be the same tomorrow. The other topic is solved. We have fixed that in-house and that’s it.”
He left him out of the starting line-up for the next game too.
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Portugal - Cristiano Ronaldo + Goncalo Ramos = Freedom
(Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)