Vitinha said Cristiano Ronaldo continues to inspire the Portugal team as the squad prepares for the 2026 World Cup, and added that the group’s clear aim is to win the tournament with him and for him.
The midfielder, who is included on Roberto Martinez’s 27‑player list finalized on 19 May, praised Ronaldo as one of the greatest players in history and said he is proud to share a locker room with him, to learn from him and to witness his professionalism every day. Vitinha said Ronaldo’s approach to the game is exemplary, that he leaves nothing to chance and that he enters matches knowing he is ready at 100 percent and has done everything possible for the team.
Those words land against stark numbers: Cristiano Ronaldo is 41 years old, has 226 appearances for the Portugal men’s national team and scored eight goals in Portugal’s 2024‑2025 Nations League victory. He is the only player to have scored at five World Cups and, if he plays in 2026, would become the first player in history to appear at six World Cups. Ronaldo, who plays his club football with Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, has not yet won the World Cup — the one major international trophy that still eludes him — and told an international broadcaster in November that the 2026 tournament would be his last.
Portugal will play in Group K in North America, drawn against the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uzbekistan and Colombia. Martinez’s list of 27 must be trimmed to a final roster by FIFA’s deadline of 30 May, leaving one spot to be cut before the tournament squad is set. Vitinha underlined the team’s short‑term focus: “We want to win,” he said, and insisted the squad must advance step by step and concentrate on the group phase first.
The context is straightforward and immediate: Ronaldo remains the emotional and tactical centre of a Portugal side that must both manage his advancing age and lean on his experience. Martinez has given the squad room to breathe with a 27‑player preliminary group that includes both established veterans and younger options, but the imminent cut to 26 players forces choices that could shape Portugal’s path through a tricky Group K.
The tension is real. Portugal’s planning rests on a veteran who has carried the national team for two decades; yet that same longevity raises questions about durability and minutes in a World Cup played on a continent where travel and recovery will matter. Ronaldo’s unmistakable presence, and his clear intent to make 2026 his final global tournament, gives the team a mission, but it also concentrates pressure on selection and match management decisions that Martinez will have to make before the deadline.
Vitinha’s assessment left no ambiguity about where the squad stands emotionally: he called Ronaldo “one of the greatest players in history,” said he hopes the team can win the World Cup with him and for him, and noted that Ronaldo’s leadership and professionalism keep the team moving in the right direction. For now, the immediate work is practical: secure a place out of Group K and finalise the trimmed 26‑player roster by 30 May.
The simplest conclusion is this: Portugal will depend on Ronaldo’s experience and form as much as ever, and the coaching staff must balance reverence with pragmatism when they make the final cut. How Martinez manages Ronaldo’s minutes and the final squad composition before the tournament will be as important as any pre‑World Cup promise. — kroupi jr
