{"id":783660,"date":"2026-07-06T10:42:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T10:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/783660\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T10:42:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T10:42:20","slug":"ronaldos-last-world-cup-we-will-see-says-portugal-star-before-spain-clash-world-cup-2026-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/783660\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronaldo\u2019s last World Cup? We will see, says Portugal star before Spain clash | World Cup 2026 News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"World<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018I will finish when I choose\u2019, Ronaldo reveals amid speculation around his World Cup future ahead of the last-16 match.<\/p>\n

Published On 6 Jul 20266 Jul 2026<\/p>\n

Cristiano Ronaldo has, once again, refused to admit that the current World Cup will be the last of his career as Portugal face Spain in a knockout match.<\/p>\n

Ronaldo stressed on Sunday that he will leave football with no regrets ahead of his team\u2019s last-16 clash with their neighbours, Spain.<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old is playing at a record sixth World Cup and, although there are expectations he will have retired from the international scene by the time the next finals are played, he stressed he would end his career on his own terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will finish when I choose. You always ask the same question: \u2018Is this the last one?\u2019 We will see. I don\u2019t want to draw attention to this; the most important thing is to play well tomorrow,\u201d Ronaldo told reporters ahead of Monday\u2019s clash.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to be perfectly honest, regardless of what happens tomorrow, Cristiano is going to be 1,000 percent leaving with a clear conscience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have given all I could to football. It\u2019s my passion to play for so many years. I didn\u2019t do it out of need; I\u2019m doing well out of life. It\u2019s about passion. I play for the national team, and I love to play football.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of what happens tomorrow, I\u2019m not going to exert pressure on myself that I must win.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to enjoy every match at a huge competition like the World Cup. I think I\u2019m not doing so bad. I\u2019ve scored three goals; others have done better, but I think I\u2019m doing not so bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

A relaxed Ronaldo admitted to having enjoyed the current tournament more than his previous five World Cups and was confident Roberto Martinez\u2019s side could prevail against a Spain side who have improved as the finals have progressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we didn\u2019t have this belief, we wouldn\u2019t be here,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a beautiful experience; we\u2019re getting better in every match.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know this is a tough competition, and it\u2019s impossible to always do well. Some good teams have been eliminated, and that says everything. The team is well, calm and well prepared. We\u2019re going to face a difficult team, but I think we will be prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Portugal'sRonaldo trains with his teammates at the Southern Methodist University in Texas in the US [Paul Ellis\/AFP]<\/p>\n

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward will be making his 233rd appearance for Portugal if he features against Spain, a nation he has a close connection to after spending nine seasons with Real.<\/p>\n

His scoring record against Portugal\u2019s Iberian neighbour, however, is limited, with only four goals against the Spanish. That total includes a hat-trick in a 3-3 draw during the group phase of the 2018 World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpain is always a contender to win the Euros, the Nations League; they have already won this competition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpain is the favourite. They have more titles than Portugal, but this is a different competition with different players. There are injuries; there\u2019s the heat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like playing against Spain. My record is quite good. I\u2019ve played them 10 or 11 times, and it\u2019s quite balanced. It will be won on small details. I have this feeling we are going to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I have to do is enjoy it if it\u2019s my last World Cup, and it\u2019s not going to be my last match at a World Cup because I want to continue onward.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018I will finish when I choose\u2019, Ronaldo reveals amid speculation around his World Cup future ahead of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":783661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,3456,527,44,11546,561,457,82,13009,13010],"class_list":["post-783660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-europe","tag-football","tag-news","tag-portugal","tag-soccer","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-world-cup","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}