Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portuguese national team have closed their journey at the 2026 World Cup after a 0-1 defeat to Spain in the round of 16. Besides missing the dream of winning the world championship, the 41-year-old striker also recorded some unwanted statistics.
According to statistics, Ronaldo made 17 shots at the 2026 World Cup but did not create any scoring opportunities for his teammates. This is the most shots of a player at a World Cup without any decisive passes being recorded.
In addition, the Portuguese striker also became the player with the most matches without scoring in World Cup history with 19 matches "silent" after a total of 27 appearances. He is also the player with the most defeats in this arena with 8 losses.
However, Ronaldo still had a memorable World Cup in terms of personal achievements when he scored 3 goals and became the first player to score in 6 different World Cups.
After the defeat against Spain, former striker Wayne Rooney believes that Portugal's problem is not entirely in Ronaldo, but also in how teammates exploit the captain's abilities.
Rooney commented that Bruno Fernandes and midfielders have not taken good advantage of Ronaldo's ability to move in the penalty area.
If you play with Cristiano Ronaldo, you must know how to promote his strengths. Bruno Fernandes should have made more crosses or put the ball into the penalty area more often. Ronaldo is still very dangerous in this area, especially in set pieces.
You shouldn't let Ronaldo regularly receive the ball 30m from the goal. That's no longer his greatest strength. Put the ball into the penalty area, where Ronaldo can still make a difference," Rooney shared.
The former Manchester United captain also expressed sympathy for his former teammate when the 2026 World Cup is Ronaldo's last tournament.
Ronaldo is one of the best players in football history. What he has contributed is something not many people can do. Ronaldo will certainly be very disappointed because his goal is to conquer the World Cup with Portugal.
Portugal had a good match against Spain, controlled many points of the match, but lacked explosiveness and flexibility in the final attacking situations," Rooney commented.
