A 1-0 defeat to Spain, out in the round of 16, tears in Arlington: Cristiano Ronaldo has played his final World Cup match, a look back at six tournaments that made him the biggest show in football, on the pitch and beyond.
Cristiano Ronaldo stands on the pitch in Arlington, fighting back tears, then disappears down the tunnel toward the locker rooms. The goal conceded in the first minute of stoppage time has just ended Portugal's round of 16 against Spain, 1-0. This was Ronaldo's final appearance on the biggest stage. “It was my last World Cup,” he confirms shortly after. After six tournaments and 20 years, it's over.
Ronaldo's World Cup moments: from the 2006 wink to the 2018 hat-trick
In Germany 2006, Ronaldo wears 17, the 7 still belongs to captain Luís Figo. In the quarter-final against England, he pleads with the referee after Wayne Rooney's foul, Rooney is sent off, Ronaldo winks toward the Portuguese bench. England brands the 21-year-old its villain, the rest of the world learns his name.
In 2010, Ronaldo arrives as the most expensive footballer in the world, captain for the first time. With just one goal, it's his weakest tournament by his own standards, yet FIFA names him man of the match in all three group games. The exit comes in the round of 16, 1-0 against Spain. A few months later, Nike releases his first signature boot, the Mercurial Superfly II “Safari”. It's the start of the most successful signature series in football history.
In 2014, Ronaldo is at his peak, reigning Ballon d'Or holder and Champions League winner. In Nike's World Cup spot “Winner Stays”, kids on a pitch turn into their idols, and the boy shouting “I'm Ronaldo” scores the goal. Portugal still exit in the group stage. What sticks in the memory is the lightning bolt he gets shaved into his hair mid-tournament, according to reports at the time a tribute to a seriously ill boy whose treatment he paid for.
2018 brings his greatest World Cup night, against Spain of all teams: a hat-trick in a 3-3 draw, including a free kick in the 88th minute. After his first goal, he strokes his chin, and everyone reads the gesture as a GOAT statement. He keeps the goatee for the rest of the tournament, a sauna bet with Ricardo Quaresma: “It gave me luck.”
In Qatar 2022, he loses his starting spot, and after the quarter-final exit against Morocco he leaves the pitch in tears. On his feet: a Mercurial inspired by Portuguese Azulejo tiles, his 31st signature boot.
World Cup 2026: the record, the gold, and Nike's farewell statement
2026 brings the record: his brace against Uzbekistan makes Ronaldo the first player to score at six World Cups, and with ten World Cup goals he passes Eusébio as Portugal's record scorer. Nike turns the moment to gold twice over, first with the Mercurial RGN, which sells out instantly, then with the Gold Scorpion, which Ronaldo wears for one half. In Nike's World Cup film “Rip the Script”, he and LeBron James had rejected a script titled “The GOAT's Goodbye”. Hours after the real farewell, the brand makes its statement: “His Legend Lives On.”
The show is over. The CR7 brand remains.
