Is Cristiano Ronaldo, at the grand old age of 41, now more of a hindrance than a help as Portugal look to join the select list of nations that have won the FIFA World Cup?

It’s the biggest question surrounding one of the tournament favorites, but it’s far from the only one. Portugal arrives in North America with the world’s strongest midfield, a coach under pressure, and a nation that believes this could finally be its year.

The Ronaldo question has been on the lips of fans around the globe ahead of the 2026 tournament. Oh, and before the 2022 edition too.

Qatar didn’t end well for Ronaldo, who lost his place in the starting lineup after the group stage but was unable to inspire a second-half turnaround as a substitute in a shock 1-0 quarterfinal defeat to Morocco.

But three-and-a-half years on, there’s no doubt the former Real Madrid superstar will be leading the line and captaining his country, who many are tipping as potential winners, partly thanks to their world-class midfield trio of Vitinha, João Neves, and Bruno Fernandes.

Portugal’s midfield sets the standard

“I think definitely the biggest strength of the team is the midfield, it ranks alongside Spain as the best,” says Portuguese football historian Miguel Lourenço Pereira, the author of Bring Me That Horizon: A Journey to the Soul of Portuguese Football. “They have players that complement each other really well. So you have João Neves doing one thing, Vitinha doing another thing, and then Bruno Fernandes doing another thing.”

It is often said that football games are won and lost in midfield, which should stand the Portuguese in good stead. However, Lourenço Pereira is concerned about how the other pieces of the puzzle fit around their trio of string-pullers.

“The importance of midfield is really how the rest of the team plays. So you could have a great midfield of passers, but then if you don’t have anyone to pass to, it doesn’t matter. You can have great midfielders that press, but then if the rest of the team doesn’t press, it doesn’t matter.”

That last point, for Lourenço Pereira, like many others, is key.

“The midfield is great, but I think it lacks coherence within the team,” he suggests. “Cristiano doesn’t press, Bernardo doesn’t press, and eventually Rafael Leão doesn’t press, João Félix doesn’t press.

“The potential of the midfield is not being fulfilled because of the sort of players Roberto Martínez is choosing in other positions. Especially players like Cristiano and João Félix.”

The Ronaldo question refuses to go away

Martínez immediately reinstated Ronaldo to the starting lineup after taking over from Fernando Santos following the 2022 World Cup. Since then, the veteran has scored 25 goals in his first 30 games under the Spaniard’s management, his best-ever run for Portugal.

The current Cristiano Ronaldo conundrum, it seems, will continue until the day he hangs up his boots.

“Cristiano is probably the only sportsman in history who is bigger than his nation,” explains Lourenço Pereira. “That makes him almost like a god-like figure, and he enjoys that. We all know he enjoys that position. He has been using it.

“Among the players, there is a worshipping of what Cristiano is. Most of them grew up with him already as a big star.

The same also goes for many supporters, although Lourenço Pereira believes older fans are less on board with the continuing Ronaldo-must-play movement.

“Everyone between the age of five and 35 only knows Portugal with Cristiano. For them, Cristiano is the beacon of everything, his presence alone is enough to justify him being there. For the likes of my generation or older, we are a bit more critical because we are aware that he is not at that level anymore.”

Is there really an alternative to Ronaldo?

But if Cristiano Ronaldo is no longer the man to fill the central attacking position, then who is?

“Then again, you have the other side of the question, which is, is there any top striker who’s been subbed for Cristiano to play?” Lourenço Pereira ponders. “There isn’t.”

Gonçalo Ramos, who scored a hat trick against Switzerland as Ronaldo’s replacement in the 2022 World Cup round of 16, is the only other out-and-out striker in Portugal’s 2026 squad but isn’t a regular starter for Paris Saint-Germain.

Nevertheless, Lourenço Pereira still believes Cristiano taking on a different role would have better served Portugal in recent years.

“What I would have liked as a supporter and as a big fan of Cristiano during his career was that he was humble enough to understand that at his age, with his physical condition, he shouldn’t be playing every single minute of every single match.

“He should be playing from the bench for the last 25 minutes, when he’s fresh and everyone else is already tired, when there are more crosses into the box, where his heading ability is above everyone else’s.

“But he doesn’t have that sort of mentality. His mentality still is, I’m the same guy I was when I was 25 or 35, I need to beat all the records. I need to be the main man. For me, Portugal would have been the prime contender if he had accepted that role.”

Even if there is some belief Portugal are being held back to a certain extent, most bookmakers ranked them as the fourth favorites to lift the World Cup trophy in New Jersey on July 19. In Portugal, there is belief it can happen, if not expectation.

“People do believe it can happen. I do believe it can happen,” says Lourenço Pereira. “I think people are expecting Portugal to perform really well and at least to get to the semifinals, with the exception if they have to play in the last eight against a side that is equally as good as them.”

Martínez under pressure despite Portugal’s talent

At the 2026 World Cup, head coach Martínez finds himself in a similar position to 2018, when he was in charge of Belgium’s supremely talented golden generation, which was eliminated in the semifinals. The Spaniard was accused of failing to make the most of that squad and knows he has to deliver with his current team, especially with Portugal set to co-host the World Cup in 2030 and a familiar face previously lurking in the background.

Recent developments, though, may have bought him a little time.

“Martínez is not the most popular by a mile,” Lourenço Pereira says. “He plays differently in every single match, plays a lot of players in different positions. That isn’t very popular because supporters want to identify with one style of play, one starting 11.

“When José Mourinho went to Benfica, it was seen as Mourinho was coming back to Portugal because he was waiting for Martínez to be sacked.

“Pedro Proença, the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, talked with Mourinho about the possibility of picking up Portugal after the World Cup. Mourinho was very excited about it because it meant he would be the manager for the next World Cup in Portugal. Only one thing could happen that stopped that: Real Madrid.”

On June 11, Mourinho agreed to return to the LaLiga giants on a three-year contract, taking him through the summer of 2029. Could that still leave Martínez looking over his shoulder?

“I think he knows he depends on results more than anyone else to keep the job,” affirms Lourenço Pereira. “I think there’s a lot of pressure on him. And I think people are not ready to give him a second chance. So he knows he has to either reach the final or be knocked out by a very big side.”

A World Cup shaped by expectation and emotion

If Portugal do succeed in making a deep run, they will be driven by the memory of Diogo Jota, a key member of the squad who tragically lost his life in a car accident in Spain in July 2025.

“Diogo Jota will be a huge motivation. Everyone wants to win it for him, both the supporters and players. And I actually think that, especially for the ones who played with him the most, Rúben Neves, his best friend, Bruno Fernandes, who was also a close friend of his, Rúben Dias, those sort of players, they will look to him in each match when things get tough or there are moments of high tension.

“On the field, he will also be a huge miss because he was the sort of player for whom there isn’t a replica. He was talented, but he was also incredibly competitive and gave everything for the team. Diogo Jota scored a lot of important goals, not being a No. 9, but by arriving in the box and taking opportunities because he had that ability.”

Portugal have the talent to win the World Cup, but also some key questions hanging over them. Whether this is finally their moment may depend less on individual brilliance and more on how all the pieces fit together.

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