A Stoic Cristiano Ronaldo Exits Last World Cup With ‘Clear Conscience’ After Portugal Loses To Spain

Cristiano Ronaldo walked off the pitch after his final World Cup match for Portugal with a stoic look on his face and only the slightest hint of emotion. There was a brief wave to acknowledge cheering fans, and the same feeling he has had after past losses.

“Sad — it’s normal after being eliminated like this,” said Ronaldo, who briefly shielded his eyes with his right hand after the match.

The sixth and final World Cup for the 41-year-old superstar ended with a 1-0 loss to border rival Spain in a round of 16 game on Monday.

“I’ve given everything, I’ve given my best, and I leave with a clear conscience,” he said. “This is soccer, this is life for a soccer player. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.”

Ronaldo, the only player to score goals in six World Cups in a row and the career leader in international goals with 146, said the day before that he hoped it wouldn’t be his final match in this run and wanted to enjoy it to the fullest.

But he reiterated then — and again after the loss to Spain — that this was his last time in the tournament that’s played every four years. The deepest he ever went in the World Cup was the semifinals in his 2006 debut.

As for his other future plans, he wasn’t ready to say.

“Yes, it was my last World Cup, but everything else I’ll have time to think about, to be with my family, and not make any decision hot-headed and move on with life,” he said.

Ronaldo was denied a goal in the first half against Spain when record-setting goalkeeper Unai Simón made an impressive leaping stop. That was one of his three shots.

Two of those were on target, including the one on which Simón was still in midair when he reached back to grab the ball with both hands. Ronaldo got off a backward kick with his right foot after a header by teammate João Félix bounced off Simón’s shoulder.

“He is an example, a role model to follow. This is somebody that we need to celebrate. We’re talking about a football icon,” Portugal coach Roberto Martínez said in translated remarks. “There aren’t too many Cristiano Ronaldos out there. I think we need to thank him. His dream was to win the World Cup and he did this as an amazing example in the locker room.”

Portugal had never won a major international tournament before Ronaldo. The first was the 2016 European Championship, before adding Nations League titles in 2019 and 2025.

Ronaldo’s finale on soccer’s biggest stage came eight years after he recorded a World Cup hat trick at age 33. That made him the oldest to have one, and that stood until then-38-year-old Lionel Messi scored three goals for Argentina in a 3-0 win over Algeria on June 16.

The hat trick for Ronaldo came in a 3-3 draw with Spain in a group stage opener that’s considered one of the tournament’s best matches, although both powers didn’t reach the knockout stage.

He scored three goals in this World Cup, and his 11 overall are tied for ninth on the career list.
-AP