World Cup 2026: Cristiano Ronaldo does not shine and Portugal draws with Democratic Republic of Congo

Last Tuesday, three of football's biggest stars shone at the 2026 World Cup. Kylian Mbappé scored two goals against Senegal, becoming the top scorer in France's history. Erling Haaland of Norway made his World Cup debut with two goals in the victory over Iraq. Lionel Messi went further, scoring a hat-trick for Argentina against Algeria, equaling Miroslav Klose's World Cup goals record.

However, on Wednesday, all eyes were on Cristiano Ronaldo as he looked to make his mark on the competition. However, the Portugal captain was unable to keep up with the performance of his colleagues and the team only ended up 1-1 against the Democratic Republic of Congo. This was his chance to become the first player to score in six World Cups, but the match didn't go as expected.

Chris Sutton, a former Premier League striker and commentator for BBC Radio 5 Live, criticized manager Roberto Martinez's decision to leave Ronaldo on the pitch for the entire match. "This is embarrassing for Martinez. It might work, but are we watching a different game? He's afraid to take it off the field," Sutton said. Meanwhile, former England captain Wayne Rooney joked that Ronaldo might be "furious - but in a good way" to see other stars starting so well in the tournament. "He wants to be the best and that's not in a bad way. He'll want to go out on the pitch and score two or three goals to show he's still at that level," commented Rooney.


The game started promisingly for Portugal, who opened the scoring after just six minutes with a goal from Joao Neves, after a cross from Pedro Neto. However, Newcastle's Yoane Wissa equalized for the Democratic Republic of Congo just before half-time. Despite dominating ball possession (75%), Portugal had just seven shots, only one of which was on target.

Ronaldo, who is about to reach the 1,000 goal mark in his career, had two good opportunities in the second half, but was unable to finish with precision. The first chance, a weak shot that went wide of the goal, and the second, under pressure from the defense, was deflected. With this performance, Ronaldo has not scored in ten games in major tournaments.

"His stats will never be the best," Rooney said after the game. "If he has good opportunities, he will score," he added. Other commentators, such as Gael Clichy and Olivier Giroud, also highlighted that Ronaldo's desire to shine could influence his passing options, damaging the team's dynamics.

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