Cristiano Ronaldo, who at 41 is perhaps playing the last season of his career, has been called up to the Portugal team to play the first four days of the Nations League, according to the list unveiled on Friday by new coach Jorge Jesus.
Unsurprisingly, the name of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner appears in the first selection of the 71-year-old Portuguese coach, who succeeded the Spaniard Roberto Martinez after the 2026 World Cup.
Jorge Jesus led the team at Saudi club Al-Nassr last season where CR7 still plays after announcing in August that this year would “probably” be his last as a professional player.
During the World Cup this summer, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player in history to score in six World Cups, but the tournament ended with a lackluster performance, with the elimination of Portugal in the round of 16 against Spain (1-0), future champion.
Coach Roberto Martinez was then widely criticized for having systematically included him in his starting lineup, giving little playing time to his understudy Gonçalo Ramos.
Regarding Ronaldo, Jorge Jesus said Friday at a press conference that he was “a player like any other: if he has performance he plays, if he doesn’t have any he doesn’t play.” “He has a different status because his career is different, he has five Golden Balls. Afterwards, does it count for my decisions? No,” he added.
The list of 25 players communicated on Friday also includes Paris Saint-Germain players Vitinha, Joao Neves and Nuno Mendes.
Among the rare new developments, we will note the call-up of Borussia Dortmund center forward Fabio Silva and Benfica Lisbon midfielder Joao Palhinha.
Winner of the Nations League in 2019 and 2025, Portugal will begin the new edition of the competition by hosting Wales on Thursday in Lisbon, before traveling to Norway on September 27 and Denmark on October 1. He will finally welcome Norway on October 4 in Porto.
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