A bitter end for Ronaldo – the icon who transformed Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo's old rival Leo Messi left Argentina less than a month ago with a nation applauding him.

Key points

• Under Roberto Martinez, with 28 goals in 37 games, 0.756 per match, improves the 0.624 with Santos.
• After the 2010 World Cup exit against Spain, asked to explain a poor performance, Ronaldo informed journalists to ask the coach.
• The former international Jorge Andrade informed me some supporters preferred figures like Figo, Eusebio, Paulo Futre or Rui Costa.
• In September 2005, before a qualifier in Russia, Scolari and Figo went to his room to tell him his father had died.
• In the World Cup in 2018, he scored three against Spain, including a free-kick after 45 attempts in major tournaments, and the team still went out to Uruguay.

In practice, the Portugal legend has gone another way, and it was always going to be the case.

Meanwhile, the 41-year-old confirmed his international retirement after 23 years but additionally after a fallout with coach Jorge Jesus which was resolved with a sanction of 30 days, that had already been served, and a fine of 255 euros.

It was the punishment imposed on the Portuguese striker for leaving the team's training camp without permission. Jesus kept him on the bench for one match and remarked he did not plan to start him in the next, so Ronaldo went home.

His last appearance came on 24 September against Wales. He ends his international career with 146 goals in 234 games.

In practice, a message went around Portugal with a major thank you for everything, calling Ronaldo a global ambassador and an inspiration to millions. Even so, the way it concluded leaves a bit of a bitter taste.

Was he going to be named in the next squad? As Jesus remarked the door was open and the decision was Ronaldo's, possibly. What is clear is that he was no longer an automatic starter, and Cristiano has never handled that well.

So is this another hissy fit? Partly, yes. He reacted the way he always has when a coach questions his place. But the label hides how much he adapted over the years.

Such a pattern appears with almost every man who sat on the Portuguese bench – there were clashes, but additionally communion with managers and team-mates that assist explain this ending. Ronaldo retires from Portugal duty. Ronaldo's most iconic moments as he retires from international football. Listen to the latest Football Daily podcast.

When a young Ronaldo first joined the squad, he arrived at camp with his baseball cap on backwards, enormous sunglasses and headphones turned up so loud they could be heard from a distance.

He would not take the cap off to eat among veterans like Luis Figo and Rui Costa. Luiz Felipe Scolari saw an extraordinary player who was immature and obsessed with showing off. He reprimanded him in public, then informed him privately that if he changed his attitude, he would one day captain Portugal.

Meanwhile, the first great disappointment came early, and it came at home. At 19, Ronaldo played in the final of Euro 2004 at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, in front of a country that had convinced itself the trophy was already on its way.

In practice, a single headed goal by Angelos Charisteas was enough for unfancied Greece to win it by surprise. When the final whistle went, Ronaldo could not hold back the tears, and the image of the teenager crying on his own pitch travelled everywhere.

It was a painful way to learn what a final costs, and it left him with a hunger that never really went away.

Figo owned the number 7 at the time, so Ronaldo had to have 17. Figo supported him settle but had no intention of making it straightforward. When he left the national team in 2006, the shirt and the team became Ronaldo's.

In September 2005, before a qualifier in Russia, Scolari and Figo went to his room to tell him his father had died. Scolari offered to send him home. Ronaldo chose to play, asked his team-mates to behave as normal, and spent time in the dressing room doing ball tricks.

That was his way to cope with the projected but still hugely hurtful passing of his alcoholic dad. He afterwards called Scolari "father". That way the national team had become the place that held him together.

Things went sour with Carlos Queiroz. After the 2010 World Cup exit against Spain, asked to explain a poor performance, Ronaldo informed journalists to ask the coach. His influence in the camp had grown so sizeable it changed routines and habits. It explains why the coach felt undermined.

Meanwhile, the sociologist Joao Nuno Coelho offers the best lens on how Portugal sees him. In his analysis, the national team became a representation of Portuguese identity and of the country's need to be seen internationally.

In years of economic hardship and a crisis of confidence, a team that won admiration abroad was significant beyond football.

Ronaldo stood at the centre of that need and created contradictory feelings. Some Portuguese questioned his individualism and his ego, and not everyone saw themselves in his personality.

Coelho explains criticising him became more tough as time went by. The country wanted to be proud of him and sometimes felt uneasy meanwhile.

For context, the former international Jorge Andrade informed me some supporters preferred figures like Figo, Eusebio, Paulo Futre or Rui Costa. Even so, Portugal was proud to have him. And with the titles, the doubts eased.

Under Fernando Santos in 2016, he changed. He accepted playing as a centre forward next to Nani – he had never taken a coach's instructions so naturally.

After the opening draw with Iceland, he informed Nani in private that he trusted Santos, and the dressing room began to see a real captain. After missing a penalty against Austria, he barely slept. Santos woke up and discovered him already awake.

At the training camp in Marcoussis, he took a fan's megaphone and informed supporters Portugal had won nothing yet. He was enjoying the leadership role.

In the final in Paris, he left the pitch in tears, injured. He had not had the best tournament, with a muscle complaint that did not let him perform at his best.

Nani took the armband. At half-time Ronaldo pulled himself together to encourage his team-mates, and before extra time, still limping, he informed Eder he would score.

But the old instinct never fully disappeared. During extra-time, Ronaldo stood in the technical area giving orders until the fourth official sent him back. Other coaches I consulted discovered it excessive.

His greatest strength, the need to influence every result, additionally produced limits hard to accept.

When he debuted in 2003, Portugal was still searching for its first major title. Some players mark an era, and others change a national team for good. He belongs to the second group. That night in July 2016 offered Portugal its first European Championship.

Three years afterwards he scored a hat-trick against Switzerland to put them into the first Nations League final. It portugal won. In 2025 he lifted a second Nations League at an age when most players have retired.

No one has scored more goals for a national side, and no one has pulled on the Portugal shirt more times.

While a whole generation of players came through a dressing room where he decided what the standard was, under his influence, Portugal halted being a gifted team and became one that arrives at every tournament expecting to contend.

Coelho's point holds here as well: a small country discovered a way to be noticed, and for two decades he was its face.

After 2016 the question around him changed. Fewer asked whether he was selfish, and more asked whether Portugal depended on him too much.

After a tough 2026 World Cup, much was produced of him still starting up front when in fact statistically that was his best period.

For context, the federation has confirmed a special tribute to honour his contribution, and that is necessary as the exit has not left fans room for a celebration they want to be part of.

For now, a bitter end for Ronaldo – the icon who transformed Portugal remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.