Following Cristiano Ronaldo’s straight red card after elbowing Dara O’Shea in their 2-0 defeat against the Republic of Ireland and Portugal’s subsequent 9-1 win over Armenia, the fans and the world have been debating whether Portugal are a better team to compete in the 2026 FIFA World Cup with or without Ronaldo.
It’s one of the biggest questions in football at the moment, especially when the forthcoming World Cup could be the last for the Al-Nassir talisman.
In this analysis, Sporting Tribune weighs the statistics.
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Numbers speak no lies
Even if he doesn’t have many trophies to show for it, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the best international footballer of all time, with 143 goals and 37 assists in just 226 games played for his country.
Numbers like that, which are hard to come by, are what put CR7 in the most needed player in every squad, but it is hard to believe that people want Roberto Martinez to remove him from the 2026 World Cup squad.
Although this is not new, in 2022, the same question was asked: whether Ronaldo should be dropped from the squad after he had a bad session under coach Eric Ten Hag at the club level. He was benched in a quarter-final against Morocco, which the team eventually lost 1-0.
However, after the 2022 World Cup, Ronaldo has scored 25 goals out of the 30 games he featured in for Portugal.
After the 9-1 victory over Armenia, Martinez emphasised that the forward still has a very important role to play in the World Cup.
He said, “We are better with Ronaldo, Nuno Mendes and Pedro Neto.
“I think the most important thing is to have all the important players, but also to have the confidence and a clear idea that we can win when certain players aren’t in the starting XI.”
Portugal without Ronaldo looks sharper
Portugal today boasts arguably their most complete squad in history, with the likes of Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, João Félix, Rafael Leão, Gonçalo Ramos and others.
They have a group filled with creativity, pressing intensity, fluidity, and interchangeable attacking roles. Modern football demands a high defensive work rate, fast transitions, and coordinated pressing.
Ronaldo, now 40 and no longer the tireless runner he once was, simply cannot offer that dimension.
Without him, Portugal can play a more collective style, with midfielders not forced to channel every attack toward one focal point.
