Former Chelsea star, Craig Burley, has told Portugal they cannot win or be competitive at the 2026 World FIFA World Cup with Cristiano Ronaldo leading the lines.
According to him, evidence has shown that Ronaldo cannot do it anymore, adding that manager Roberto Martinez must summon the courage to drop the 40-year-old forward.
Portugal were able to make it to the UEFA Nations League semi-finals on Sunday night with a win over Denmark in the quarter-finals this weekend.
Roberto Martinez’s men suffered a 1-0 defeat in the first leg against the Danish, with Cristiano Ronaldo struggling to make an impact.
However, during the second leg, Portugal pulled off a 5-2 win over Denmark.
The Al-Nassr captain wasted a golden opportunity to put Portugal on level terms on aggregate when he missed a penalty in the opening five minutes.
He, however, redeemed himself with an excellent second-half strike, scoring Portugal’s second goal of the night.
Burley told ESPN that he wondered whether the 40-year-old could start for Portugal at the 2026 World Cup.
He said, “To be still going at this age is incredible. But will a 41 and half year old be able to lead the line in the 2026 World Cup for one of the most talented teams in the tournament?
“Bearing in mind the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Euros, we had evidence that at this level, he just can’t do it anymore.
“Maybe you can put him on the bench, but then there’s a pressure on the manager about why he’s not playing Ronaldo. I think it lacks foresight from Roberto Martinez just to continue selecting him.
“Even if he gets the odd goal, and he does that, but there is a body of evidence and I’m not making this up, in the last two major tournaments, he was either dropped or he struggled.”
