{"id":50161,"date":"2026-11-06T10:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T08:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&p=50161"},"modified":"2026-11-06T10:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T08:25:09","slug":"portugals-ronaldo-announces-international-retirement","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/portugals-ronaldo-announces-international-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Portugal\u2019s Ronaldo announces international retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"
Cristiano Ronaldo said on Thursday he was retiring from the Portugal team, bringing the curtain down on \u200bone of the most illustrious international careers in the history of football.<\/div>\n
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The 41-year-old announced that he would \u2018hand back the number 7 \u200cshirt\u2019 after the November international break.<\/div>\n
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Ronaldo captained Portugal to their first major trophy at Euro 2016 and helped them win the 2019 and 2025 Nations Leagues.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt was not an easy decision, because there are decisions that are not made only with the head. They are also made with the heart,\u201d Ronaldo said on social \u200bmedia.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIf I ever made you happy, if one of my goals ever made you hug someone, forget a worry or feel \u200bproud of our country, then it was all worth it.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Ronaldo thanked his family, the Portuguese people and \u2060the teammates, coaches and staff he worked with over his 23-year career with the national team.<\/div>\n
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\u201cPortugal will always be a part of me,\u201d he \u200bcaptioned the announcement video.<\/div>\n
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Ronaldo has made 234 appearances for Portugal and scored 146 goals. He holds the men\u2019s all-time record for international appearances and for international \u200bgoals.<\/div>\n
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A five-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner, Ronaldo is the first player to score in six different editions of the World Cup, the first coming in 2006.<\/div>\n
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His final international tournament appearance was at the 2026 World Cup, where he tried to win the one major trophy that has eluded him. Portugal exited in the last \u200b16 with a 1-0 loss to eventual champions and Iberian rivals Spain.<\/div>\n
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Ronaldo did, however, join Argentina\u2019s Lionel Messi as the only players to \u200bfeature at six global tournaments, one of a host of international records set by the Al-Nassr forward.<\/div>\n
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RONALDO APOLOGY<\/b><\/div>\n
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Ronaldo left the Portugal camp at the end \u200cof September \u2060ahead of their Nations League match against Denmark without permission and did not return. He later cited broken promises from manager Jorge Jesus as the reason for his departure.<\/div>\n
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Jesus denied making any agreement with Ronaldo but left the door open for his return following Portugal\u2019s 2-1 win.<\/div>\n
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After Ronaldo apologised and said he remained available for international selection, the Portuguese Football Federation suspended the forward for 30 days and fined him \u20ac255 ($287.16).<\/div>\n
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Portugal, who \u200btop Nations League Group A4, will host \u200bsecond-placed Denmark on November 14 \u2060in Braga before visiting Wales in their final two group games, which will be Ronaldo\u2019s final chances to add to his international statistics.<\/div>\n
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The Portuguese Football Federation released a statement after Ronaldo\u2019s retirement announcement, expressing its \u200bprofound and eternal gratitude for his services.<\/div>\n
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\u201cMore than an exceptional athlete, our captain was an inspiring \u200bleader, an example of \u2060dedication and the ultimate symbol of the soul of our National Team,\u201d said the statement.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThank you for the inspiration,\u201d wrote teammate Bruno Fernandes. \u201cIt was a privilege to be able to share great moments with our national team alongside my childhood idol.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Ronaldo will leave the international stage as Portugal\u2019s most \u2060successful player \u200bin terms of individual and team honours and has become a cultural reference \u200bpoint for the country around the world.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI spent my life working to become the best player in the world. Today I realise that my greatest victory was having deserved \u200bthe honour of representing the best country in the world,\u201d said Ronaldo in his statement.<\/div>\n
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–Reuters–<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":50162,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[78,20],"class_list":["post-50161","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The 41-year-old announced that he would \u2018hand back the number 7 \u200cshirt\u2019 after the November international break.","published_date":"","news_description":"The 41-year-old announced that he would \u2018hand back the number 7 \u200cshirt\u2019 after the November international break.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50164,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50161\/revisions\/50164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=50161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}