{"id":636835,"date":"2026-10-05T08:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T08:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/636835\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T08:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T08:24:09","slug":"cristiano-ronaldo-can-return-to-portugal-team-if-he-wants-says-jesus-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/636835\/","title":{"rendered":"Cristiano Ronaldo can return to Portugal team if he wants, says Jesus | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"

Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo can return to the squad if he wishes, despite walking out on his teammates, national team coach Jorge Jesus said on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The Portuguese showed they did not need the former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward as they became the first side to qualify for the quarterfinals of the 2026-27 UEFA Nations League with a 2-1 comeback win<\/a> against Norway.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

Goncalo Ramos secured the victory for his side in the 86th minute after Joao Cancelo\u2019s powerful finish had levelled Kristoffer Ajer\u2019s stunning opener from outside the penalty area for World Cup quarterfinalists Norway.<\/p>\n

After the game, Jesus said he was prepared to allow 41-year-old Ronaldo to return to the national team but that it would have to be the player\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, Cris, in the next call-up, if he\u2019s playing at Al-Nassr, he\u2019ll be a player who can be called up,\u201d Jesus told reporters, referring to Ronaldo\u2019s Saudi club side. \u201cIf he wants to, he\u2019ll return to the national team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coach said he would speak with Ronaldo if he wished before Portugal\u2019s next matches in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he wants to, as we did before this call-up, we talked before the call-up; we can talk before the next call-up,\u201d continued Jesus. \u201cBut Cris is the one who\u2019s going to decide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ronaldo walked out of the national-team camp<\/a> on Wednesday after a dispute over his selection by Jesus, leaving his international future in doubt.<\/p>\n

Portugal\u2019s leading goalscorer and most-capped player, Ronaldo was substituted in the Nations League opener against Wales on September 24.<\/p>\n

He was then an unused substitute in the 2-1 victory in Norway on September 27.<\/p>\n

When he was informed he would again be named on the bench for the match in Denmark, Ronaldo took a private flight back to Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

Portugal went on to win 4-2 in Denmark<\/a> on Thursday, while rumours swirled about Ronaldo\u2019s departure and whether he would play for the national team again.<\/p>\n

Ronaldo\u2019s international teammate, Bruno Fernandes, spoke to the media<\/a> on Saturday in the buildup to the return match against Norway in an attempt to settle a growing furore in Portugal about the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a reserved place not only among the best of all time, but also in the hearts of all Portuguese people, and the most important thing is that we stop dividing things,\u201d Fernandes said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no divisions in the national team. It is one and will remain so, despite any noise that may come from outside\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are outside of this controversy, but what I ask is that the country does not divide itself, does not make choices, that it respects all sides, but at the same time, Cris is and will be the biggest icon of our national team; he deserves everyone\u2019s respect, regardless of who likes him more or [who likes him] less.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus had said he would speak about Ronaldo after Sunday\u2019s match with Norway, but added in the buildup to the game that the forward is a \u201csymbol of Portugal\u201d.<\/p>\n

The 72-year-old coach went on to say on Sunday that he had told Ronaldo he needed him in the squad for his first games at the helm after replacing Roberto Martinez following the 2026 World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cCristiano should end his time in the national team the way he wants; he\u2019s the one who will decide how he wants it,\u201d Jesus said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s how we talked, the two of us \u2013 I said, \u2018I need you\u2019. In my first call-up, I said, \u2018I need you, I need you to be close to me, playing or not playing, I need you\u2019. And now I\u2019m saying the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ronaldo, who made his Portugal debut in 2003 at the age of 18, has said this will \u201cprobably\u201d be his final year in football.<\/p>\n

The forward has been a fixture of the national team for more than two decades and has played at six World Cups.<\/p>\n

Portugal host Denmark in their next international on November 14, before completing their Nations League group in Wales on November 17.<\/p>\n

Ronaldo\u2019s longtime rival for the title of the world\u2019s best player, Lionel Messi, will play his final match for Argentina in a friendly against Benin in Buenos Aires on Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo can return to the squad if he wishes, despite walking out on his teammates,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":636836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[63,4118,85,46,17673,2224,105],"class_list":["post-636835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-europe","tag-football","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-portugal","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636835","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=636835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}