Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo has scored three goals in four games at the 2026 World Cup, and although Zlatan Ibrahimovic and other pundits who used to be his rivals in the scoring charts seemed a bit too cheery about declaring him finished after the first game against DR Congo, all he has done since then is prove that he is still an asset to the Portuguese national team.
Ronaldo has already addressed a lot of the criticism about whether or not he should be starting, and even opponents have pointed out the hypocracy of media members wanting him benched while his teammates themselves are all in favor of him starting.
Ahead of a massive Round of 16 clash in the World Cup against rivals Spain, the Portuguese national team talisman got brutally honest about where he is at in his career. While people paint him as someone who is not aware of his own humanity and decline, Ronaldo's words to the media before facing the reigning European Champions said otherwise.
Cristiano Ronaldo has no illusions about who he is now
Cristiano Ronaldo told reporters, via Fabrizio Romano, “I’m not the player I was before, but… I keep scoring goals. And I hope to score tomorrow. If I can’t score, it will be another teammate to score and we hope to go to the next round. The mission is to advance, not for me to score”.
The legendary Real Madrid No. 7 himself put into words better what any pundit could have said to sum up where he is at in his career. Ronaldo is far from the record breaker who pulled Real Madrid up to three straight Champions League titles in historic fashion back at a time when every country had a powerhouse club to compete against, but he is still one of the best strikers in the world and a fierce competitor who is able to score despite facing incredible pressure from defenses.
At the same press conference, Ronaldo spoke a little bit about his job at Portugal these days, which is to occupy space and draw out defenders, and anyone who watched the Croatia game closely could see him doing a lot of dirty work in terms of dropping deep and manipulating space for wingers Pedro Neto and Rafael Leao.
The Portuguese legend is still a real threat to any defense, including Spain's, and his main focus is not just to score the goals himself but to win. Whether it is him or a teammate scoring, Cristiano just wants to make it to the next round for a fairytale run like the one he and Portugal had in 2016.
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