Portugal faced a disappointing exit from the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, crashing to a 0-1 defeat vs Morocco in their quarter-final fixture at the Al Thumama Stadium. It was a bittersweet end for Cristiano Ronaldo, who probably featured in his last-ever World Cup. The Portugal captain was in poor form and could only muster a goal in the opener. The 37-year-old was then benched for the Round of 16 fixture vs Switzerland, with Fernando Santos preferring Goncalo Ramos as the side’s solitary striker and the Benfica man went on to score a hat-trick in his World Cup debut as Portugal sealed a 6-1 win. But against Morocco, they were outplayed in all departments with Youssef En-Nesyri scoring in the 42nd-minute in a 1-0 win. Ronaldo made a substitute appearance in the second-half but failed to inspire Portugal to a comeback.
With many fans expecting him to retire from international football after the World Cup, now it has been reported that he could continue on for a few more years. According to Correio da Manha, Ronaldo won’t be retiring right now, and will be aiming to be a part of Portugal’s UEFA Euro 2024 squad.
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Currently a free agent, Ronaldo has been rumoured to join Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr for a reported two-and-a-half year deal worth 200 million euros per season. Recently, Al-Nassr head coach Rudi Garcia also gave an update on the rumours. Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport, he said, “If you want to ask me about Cristiano Ronaldo, I’ll tell you right away. You know me, I’m not talking about this story. Let’s wait. Our championship is about to start again.”
Ronaldo led Portugal to Euro 2016 glory as captain and he will be aiming to repeat that feat. Meanwhile, after the defeat vs Morocco, Portugal have been eliminated from a World Cup quarterfinal match for the first time in their history, having previously progressed from their two other matches at this stage (5-3 vs DPR Korea in 1966 and 3-1 in a penalty shootout vs England in 2006). Meanwhile, Ronaldo has failed to score in all eight of his knockout appearances at the World Cup, going 570 minutes without scoring and attempting 27 shots in the process.