We’ve been here before. We, the hapless sportswriters, who marshaled every tenet of football logic to argue against his presence. Exhausted supporters, who no longer found the energy to defend their idol. Opponents assumed he had lost his power to intimidate. And among us – writers, supporters and defenders – he. Cristiano Ronaldo. Whenever the writing on the wall looked too glaring to ignore, whenever the numbers suggested his stock was falling, the Ronaldo riposte has become inevitable. Happened in Houston on Tuesday, where he led Portugal to a 5-0 win over Uzbekistan.
If not for that inevitability, the post-game discourse could be surprisingly different. It would have given new momentum to the narrative that Ronaldo was adversely affecting Portugal’s title hopes. And fleeting, it seemed. In the fourth minute, Ronaldo missed a tap-in from Nuno Mendes’ excellent cross.
Indeed, even the seemingly immortal have elements of death. Lionel Messi also missed a penalty yesterday. The difference between the normal and the intelligent, however, was evident in their responses. a brace. Still, it was Messi – the leading goalscorer in World Cup history, a reigning world champion and a player who still tilts matches to his will.
Can Ronaldo do it? At 41? After a disastrous performance against DR Congo? A goal drought in major tournaments spanning 10 games?
The rebuttal came before the question was even formulated. In two minutes. A profound yes.
Throughout his career, Ronaldo has defied the constraints of irrelevance through reinvention. At his age, he doesn’t need to. Wouldn’t life be easier sitting on a sun lounger in his Riyadh mansion while collecting €200 million per season and avoiding the relentless scrutiny of the World Cup? Undoubtedly. But has Ronaldo ever chosen easy?
He reinvented it today. The first goal was definitely scored in the sixth minute. Seeing Joao Cancelo’s overlapping run down the right, Ronaldo slotted into the space between center back Abdullah Abdullahev and midfielder Odiljon Khamrobekov. The finish had a roughness reminiscent of younger days. Abduvokhid Nematov’s dive was purely decorative.
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And then, for the second goal, which represented a different kind of reinvention – psychological. Pedro Neto earns Portugal a free-kick at the far end of the box — also known as Ronaldo’s territory. No one else can imagine taking it. However, after consulting with Bruno Fernandes, he dropped it for Nuno Mendes, who had a more favorable angle. 2-0.
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (7) celebrates after scoring his team’s opening goal during the World Cup Group K soccer match between Portugal and Uzbekistan, Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
past time
The third goal was from the old days. Ronaldo curled around the blindside of Rustam Ashurmatov before applying a perfect finish beyond the helpless Nematov.
After that, SIUU. The comeback at Houston Stadium was so intense that it was hard to believe that this was the place where he was called ‘Messi! Messi!’ Just five days ago.
Records were also broken. With the opening goal of the game, Ronaldo became the only player to score in six editions of the men’s FIFA World Cup. With his second, he became Portugal’s leading goalscorer at the tournament, eclipsing Eusebio. At 10, Ronaldo is two shy of Pele and five of his Brazilian namesake. Had it not been for Nematov, Ronaldo could have scored a hat-trick. Portugal, however, secured fourth place thanks to Nematov’s own goal. And then the fifth, courtesy of Raphael Leo.
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Are we going overboard? One can only argue that it was Uzbekistan. Ranked 50th – 43 places behind Portugal – which had never before competed at a stage of magnitude. Still, even if the compliment seems excessive given the disparity between the sides, so be it. It comes after weeks of relentless criticism. The inevitability of Ronaldo’s repudiation has hit football. again. It had to be done. It was always meant to be.