Ronaldo finally declared the end of the game, not the GOAT Messi...2026 North Korea, China, and the U.S. declare their retirement within the last World Cup → 1-2 years
Nov 12, 2025
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Ronaldo, who was called up to the Portugal national team during the A match, confirmed that the 2026 World Cup in North Korea and the U.S. will be his last World Cup. When asked in a video interview of 'Tourize Summit' held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on the 12th (Korean time), whether the year 2026 will be the last World Cup, he replied, "Definitely yes. I'm 41 next year, and I think this will be the last moment in this important competition." He then professed that he would retire from football in a year or two.
Portugal is leading Group F in the European qualifying round for the North Korea-China World Cup. November is the last game. Portugal will play Ireland on the 14th and Armenia on the 16th in Games 5 and 6. If they win against Ireland, they will confirm their qualification for the World Cup regardless of the results of the remaining games.
Ronaldo scored a whopping 953 goals for the club and the national team. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has already said in a recent interview with Piers Morgan, a famous British broadcaster, that "'soon' means he will run for another year or two.'
Currently scoring 143 A-match goals, he has become the highest scorer in men's history and is racing toward the milestone of achieving 1,000 goals. The North American World Cup is Ronaldo's sixth.
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On the other hand, Lionel Messi (Inter Miami) achieved his long-cherished dream by leading his country Argentina to victory at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Ronaldo also openly responded to Messi's recent debate about 'GOAT'Messi is better than me? I don't agree with that opinion. I don't want to be humble.'
He also clinched the World Cup title. Ronaldo said "Winning the World Cup is not my dream. "What do you want to prove?" "If I win the World Cup, can I prove that I'm the best in soccer history?" How can winning a competition consisting of only six to seven games be the standard for the best player. Do you think it's fair?" He said he didn't need to win the World Cup because he was the best player of all time.
Ronaldo made history at the club. He enjoyed seven regular league wins in the English Premier League (Manchester United, three times), Spain's La Liga (Real Madrid, two times), and Italy's Serie A (Juventus, two times). He also won the European Champions League (UCL) five times.
Ronaldo signed Al Nasr to renew his contract in June. The contract period is until 2027. He will be on the Saudi stage until he is 42.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
