Read 3 minutes4 Jul 2026 09:49 PM IST
Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal may have found the net in their Round of 32 match against Croatia but former Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic says the team cannot win anything with the 41-year-old leading the attack. Ronaldo has played 4 matches in the World Cup so far and scored 3 goals with his latest effort coming from the penalty spot.
“Portugal fans would have expected what was happening. We can’t expect to win anything in 2026 with 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo leading the attack. Especially with Ramos on the bench, coming forward and scoring,” Ibrahimovic said, according to Goal.com.
“This is not ‘veteran leadership’. Ego is holding the team hostage. Ronaldo has lost his touch and dynamism. Now he is just in the box… at this point, his aura is supporting him more than his legs. To start him is pure nostalgia-induced madness,” he added.
At 41, Ronaldo will get one more game in a Portugal shirt, with a penalty he conceded, a stoppage-time header by Goncalo Ramos and a Croatia team ruled out by VAR yet to understand. Ramos won the title as Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in a wild finish that also included a Croatian goal disallowed for offside before the final whistle in the World Cup Round of 32 match on Thursday night.
The game pitted the 40-somethings against each other – Ronaldo, in his sixth World Cup, and Croatia’s Luka Modric, making his fifth bid for the tournament title.
Ronaldo equalized in the 68th minute with a penalty kick that gave the megastar his first knockout goal at the World Cup before he was sent off in the 81st minute.
“I’ve never felt that (fear),” he said. “Yeah, nervous. But as always, you have to be very positive for things to get better.”
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However, it was Ramos who led Portugal to victory and a place in the round of 16.
“I love that moment, I love those kinds of games,” he said. “I want to play every game like that.” Portugal will face Spain on Monday.