Cristiano Ronaldo’s sixth World Cup begins on Wednesday, when Portugal face the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the start of a tournament that again revolves around one man, even though Portugal now look better equipped than at almost any point in his international career to turn that focus into something lasting.
The match will be played under a closed roof in south-east Texas, a setting that adds to the sense of occasion around a player still defining the scale of the event. Fifa’s disciplinary committee has already reduced the cost of the three-match ban Ronaldo picked up in the qualifying defeat to the Republic of Ireland, suspending the final two games. That leaves Portugal with their captain available for the opening stage, and with the same question they have carried into several major tournaments: how much of the team should be built around him, and how much should be built to survive without him.
There is evidence on both sides of the argument. In qualifying, Ronaldo scored five goals in games against Hungary and Armenia, a reminder that the finishing still exists when the chances are right. Sébastien Desabre did not soften the threat, calling him one of the best players in football history and one of the best when it comes to set pieces. Against a side like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, that alone can change how a match is approached.
But the recent record also carries a warning. Ronaldo signed off at Euro 2024 with a mind-numbingly static performance in the quarter-final against France, and his last truly consequential interventions at a major tournament were the pair of penalties against France at Euro 2020. Portugal cut loose at the World Cup in Qatar when he was dropped in the last 16 and scored six against Switzerland, a result that showed how dangerous they can be when the team’s rhythm is not waiting on him. That is the balance Roberto Martínez has to manage now: a player still capable of tilting the field, but one whose current level can just as easily slow the game down.
Matheus Nunes put the emotional side of it plainly. He said he never imagined playing with Ronaldo and called it a huge honour, while Bruno Fernandes said it was an honour to accompany him once again and recalled watching Euro 2004 as a boy. Those are the words of teammates who understand both the size of the occasion and the weight that comes with it. Portugal may yet be trying to win the title for Ronaldo, as Nunes put it, but the first match will reveal whether that idea is a source of lift or a burden that must be carried carefully from the start.
