{"id":528749,"date":"2026-07-07T01:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T01:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/528749\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T01:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T01:16:10","slug":"i-go-with-a-clear-conscience-cristiano-ronaldo-confirms-he-has-played-his-last-world-cup-game-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/528749\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I go with a clear conscience\u2019: Cristiano Ronaldo confirms he has played his last World Cup game | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cristiano Ronaldo has admitted that he has played his last World Cup game, but said that even at 41 he has not yet made a decision about his future.<\/p>\n

Twenty-three years after making his debut, the Portugal captain\u2019s 233rd game for his national team ended in a late 1-0 defeat against Spain<\/a> that led to elimination in Dallas. He departs as the only man to have ever scored at six World Cups and he said he does so at peace, claiming that Portugal\u2019s European Championship win in 2016 is as big as a world title and noting that his era has been the most successful in the country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am sad to leave like this but I have given everything, always given my best,\u201d Ronaldo said. \u201cI go with a clear conscience. This is football, it is the life of a footballer. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. You have to carry on. It was my last World Cup<\/a>, yes, but as far as the rest of it is concerned: there will be time to think, to be with my family, [I will] not make decisions in the heat of the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will wake up tomorrow the same way I woke up today: with a clear conscience. I gave my all. I won three titles with Portugal<\/a>. Before Cristiano, Portugal had never won a big trophy. The best trophy I won with the national team was 2016, which for me has the same dimension as the World Cup. So I repeat: I leave here with a clear conscience. Tomorrow will be another day and life goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Portugal manager, Roberto Mart\u00ednez had nothing but praise for the 41-year-old forward despite another unimpressive display here against Spain<\/a>. \u201cI had a word of thanks to him,\u201d Mart\u00ednez said. \u201cHe has been an exemplary captain. I arrived when there was a lot of confusion and questions in terms of his position in the team. But he has been an example not only in the number of goals he has scored, but also in the counterattacks he leads. He is an example, a role model to follow. He is a football icon. There aren\u2019t many Ronaldos out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis dream was to win this World Cup and he did this by being an amazing example within the dressing room,\u201d the manager added. \u201cHe is a prime example of football, the athlete, and the human being who is behind that athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018He is a role model to follow\u2019: Roberto Mart\u00ednez issues instructions to Cristiano Ronaldo during the game. Photograph: Julio Cortez\/AP<\/p>\n

Mart\u00ednez rejected any suggestion he should have substituted Ronaldo in what proved to be his final World Cup match. \u201cWhen you are a team who need a goal you cannot take him off,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s physically very capable, in open space and from dead balls; anything in the box, you need his experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably in extra time would be when you might use the energy of Gon\u00e7alo Ramos. Today, we had to keep the structure. It\u2019s not the time to take your centre-forward, your best goalscorer off.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The defeat was also Mart\u00ednez\u2019s last game as Portugal manager. \u201cI\u2019m not disappointed,\u201d he said. \u201cI am proud. We played one of the favourites eye-to-eye. The journey we had to be able to play like this. I feel immense pride. Immense pride in our personality and focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luis de la Fuente, the Spain<\/a> coach, was delighted at the impact the goalscorer, Mikel Merino, made from the bench. \u201cHe\u2019s an exceptional player,\u201d he said, \u201cone of the best in his position worldwide. He\u2019s given us a fantastic performance and a fantastic goal. I would go and pick him up and carry him to the national squad if I had to. The contribution of our substitutes has been enormous throughout the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cristiano Ronaldo has admitted that he has played his last World Cup game, but said that even at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-528749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}