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The career of one of the greatest players to ever grace the pitch, Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo, is likely coming to an end – and FOX Sports’ Kasper Schmeichel, who was a goalkeeper for Denmark, thinks it will be difficult for the 41-year-old to come to grips with that reality.
“I know exactly how he feels right now,” Schmeichel said of Ronaldo after Portugal was eliminated from the 2026 World Cup by Spain on Monday. “Playing for your country means everything. Look at his body language. It hits you, and it hits you harder than you ever imagined.
“Even at his age, I don’t care how many goals you’ve scored or how many trophies you’ve won, that’s not his mentality. His mentality is this. He wants to win, wants to continue, wants to prove he’s still the best.”
Ronaldo and Portugal qualified from Group K of the 2026 World Cup after going 1-2-0 in group play. Then, after a victory against Croatia in the round of 16, they were eliminated by Lamine Yamal and Spain in the round of 16. After Portugal’s defeat, Ronaldo said it was his “last” World Cup but he was still considering his future in the sport elsewhere.
The 2026 World Cup marked the sixth such tournament that Ronaldo has participated in for Portugal, with the club failing to achieve a triumph in any of those six years (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026). Ronaldo has scored three goals in Portugal’s five matches in this tournament, highlighted by a brace against Uzbekistan in the group stage.
The superstar striker has 11 career World Cup goals and is first all-time with 976 career goals in a total of 1,326 matches.
“I think at this moment Cristiano realizes that he will no longer play the World Cup. In these stadiums you will not be able to play there anymore. It’s a really, really difficult thing, and it’s something I haven’t accepted yet,” Schmeichel said. “It’s an ongoing process. But I think he’s the type of guy he’s going to want to continue. He’s going to want to continue playing, and he doesn’t need to, but he’s doing it because he loves it. He loves the game. He’s physically still capable of playing.
“It doesn’t take away from you, but there are four years until another World Cup, so there’s a good chance he won’t be there, and that will be really, really hard to accept.”
Ronaldo spent the last four years at Al-Nassr FC in the Saudi Pro League, scoring an average of 29.3 goals per season over the last three years and helping them win the league title in the 2025-26 season.
Of course, the five-time Ballon d’Or and eight-time National League champion has two spells at Manchester United (Premier League) and stints with Real Madrid (La Liga), Juventus (Serie A) and Sporting CP (Primeira Liga) under his belt.
