Ronaldo Leads Portugal World Cup Charge

Cristiano Ronaldo has been embedded in the schemes of Portugal to play in the 2026 FIFA world cup, which further confirms that he is the preferred striker in the national team despite at the age of almost 41. The experienced striker has already hit five goals in five world cup qualifying matches and Portugal is leading their group with four victories in six games.

The 2026 world cup that will be hosted in the United States, Mexico, and Canada has already been confirmed by Ronaldo as his last time at a world cup. Although doubts had arisen over his availability after a three-match suspension was slapped on him, FIFA ruling to suspend the last two matches of the suspension has opened the door of his appearance in the opening Group K match of Portugal.

Portugal coach, Roberto Martinez, has gone on to support Ronaldo unswervingly with reference to three fundamental reasons as to why he was chosen, namely talent, experience, and attitude. Martinez has been able to stress numerous times about the extreme professionalism of Ronaldo and the levels he has in his training and on game days.

The coach believes that the impact of Ronaldo is much more than goals. The fact that he wants to be available to get selected and refuses to decrease the level of performance has provided a competitive atmosphere in the squad. Martinez observed that the fact that Ronaldo had scored 25 goals in 30 international matches, was an indication of the continued influence.

Martinez, who replaced the position of the national team in January 2023, has also emphasized the need of creating consistency in a squad. He has little time to prepare tactically at any international level and comes to the conclusion that the core group must remain constant in order to be able to be tactically clear and unified.

High profile friendlies with co-hosts Mexico and the United States will fine-tune the World Cup preparations of Portugal next March. They will be competing against New Caledonia, Uzbekistan, Colombia and either Jamaica or DR Congo in the Group K.

Portugal who are still in search of their first World Cup title will seek to mix up experience and youth in the pursuit of the history in North America.