CR7 bows out of final World Cup with 'clear conscience'

Cristiano Ronaldo walked off the pitch after his final World Cup match for Portugal with a stoic look on his face and only the slightest hint of emotion. There was a brief wave to acknowledge cheering fans, and the same feeling he has had after past losses.

"Sad — it's normal after being eliminated like this," said Ronaldo, who briefly shielded his eyes with his right hand after the match.

The sixth and final World Cup for the 41-year-old superstar ended with a 1-0 loss to border rival Spain in the round of 16 on Monday.

"I've given everything, I've given my best, and I leave with a clear conscience," he said. "This is soccer, this is life for a soccer player. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose."

Ronaldo, the only player to score goals in six consecutive World Cups and the leading international goalscorer with 146, said the day before that he hoped it wouldn't be his final match in this run, but he wanted to enjoy it to the fullest.

But he reiterated then — and again after the loss to Spain — that this was his last time at the quadrennial tournament.

The deepest he ever went with Portugal at the World Cup was on his first attempt, when his side reached the semifinals in 2006.

As for his other future plans, he wasn't ready to say.

"Yes, it was my last World Cup, but everything else, I'll have time to think about it, to be with my family and move on with life, and not make any hot-headed decisions," he said.

Ronaldo added, though, that he was leaving the World Cup stage "with a clear conscience".

"The truth is, the biggest title I won with the national team was in 2016 (Euros), which for me is just as significant as a World Cup, honestly," he said.

"That's why, I repeat, I'm leaving with a clear conscience, at my best, and that's it. Tomorrow is a new day, and life goes on."

Ronaldo was denied a goal in the first half against Spain, when record-setting goalkeeper Unai Simon made an impressive leaping stop. That was one of his three shots.

Two of those were on target, including the one for which Simon was still in midair when he reached back to grab the ball with both hands. Ronaldo fired off a backward kick with his right foot after a header by teammate Joao Felix bounced off Simon's shoulder.

"He is an example, a role model to follow. This is somebody that we need to celebrate. We're talking about a football icon," Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said.

"There aren't too many Cristiano Ronaldos out there. I think we need to thank him. His dream was to win the World Cup and he chased it as an amazing example in the locker room."

Portugal had never won a major international tournament before Ronaldo. The first was the 2016 European Championship, before adding Nations League titles in 2019 and 2025.

Ronaldo's finale on soccer's biggest stage came eight years after he recorded a World Cup hat-trick at age 33, making him the oldest player to achieve the feat until Lionel Messi, who was 38 at the time, scored three goals for Argentina in a 3-0 win over Algeria on June 16.

Ronaldo's World Cup hat-trick came in a 3-3 draw with Spain in the 2018 edition's group-stage opener, which was considered one of the tournament's best matches, despite neither side reaching the knockout stage.

He scored three goals in this World Cup, and his 11 overall leaves him tied in ninth place on the all-time tournament scoring list.

Messi rivalry

Throughout the tournament, Ronaldo largely avoided comparisons with Messi. Still, as his World Cup story closes, the contrast is difficult to ignore. Their rivalry defined an era, but never fully extended to the World Cup stage.

Messi guided Argentina to the 2014 final, and then won the title in 2022, while Ronaldo's runs repeatedly ended in frustration.

There was, however, the prospect of a World Cup meeting.

Had Portugal topped its group instead of finishing behind Colombia, and had both teams continued to advance, Ronaldo and Messi could have met in the quarterfinals.

"It would be top," Ronaldo said of the potential showdown after scoring twice in Portugal's 5-0 group-stage thrashing of Uzbekistan, his best performance at this year's tournament.

For a player who conquered nearly every other challenge the sport could offer, that sense of "what if" will accompany Ronaldo's World Cup farewell.

Martinez proud

Martinez praised his players' commitment after the heartbreaking 1-0 defeat.

"It was not a defeat in the sense of how we competed," Martinez said.

"We played against one of the favorites, we looked each other in the eye, and we stayed true to our values. We tried until the very end and gave everything we had."

The Portugal coach said knockout soccer is often decided by the smallest moments, rather than the overall balance of play.

"When you have great teams facing each other, that's what happens," he said. "Sometimes the ball goes in, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes a substitute scores the decisive goal. Those details make the difference between winning a World Cup or not."

Martinez said Portugal's performance should be viewed in the context of the team's consistency in recent years, highlighting its ability to qualify regularly for major tournaments and compete with the world's elite, despite the country's relatively small population.

"We are only 10 million people, but we continue to produce outstanding footballers," he said."What is important is consistency, focusing on the things you can control and continuing to compete at the highest level."