If Cristiano Ronaldo’s remarkable career has taught us anything down the years, it is that predictions should never be made where the five-time Ballon d’Or winner is concerned. He has picked up a habit of making the supposedly impossible look remarkably easy.
Doubters have been turned into believers over the course of two decades spent at the very top of his chosen profession. All good things must come to an end, though, and even CR7 will have to accept that fate at some point.
He will, however, continue to defy all sporting and biological logic for as long as possible. There are certainly no plans to hang up record-shattering boots any time soon, with there still plenty left for him to achieve.
Anything is possible
The 2030 World Cup will be hosted in SIX different countries, on THREE different continents for the 100th anniversary of the tournament:
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 11, 2024
🇺🇾 Uruguay: opening game
🇦🇷 Argentina: opening game
🇵🇾 Paraguay: opening game
🇲🇦 Morocco
🇪🇸 Spain
🇵🇹 Portugal
All host countries will… pic.twitter.com/CXVKYHKa5A
With well over 200 caps and 140 international goals to his name, Ronaldo is readying himself for another shot at World Cup glory in 2026. Pre-tournament sports betting markets have Portugal priced at +1100 to capture a global crown in North America.
There is certainly enough talent at Roberto Martinez’s disposal to suggest that a serious claim for the most prestigious of honours can be staked, with a UEFA Nations League title already safely stashed away.
With Ronaldo leading the line, anything really is possible. He has made a career out of upsetting the odds, bucking trends, and turning dreams into reality. It would be foolish in the extreme to start writing him off now.
He has stated that next summer’s showpiece will be his last on the grandest of sporting stages, but not everybody is convinced that is the case. The man himself probably falls into that category.
Having achieved so much, individual targets mean as much to the all-time great as collective ones. As somebody who has always boasted a relentless drive, it is important for him to have something to aim at.
There is little threat of him ever going through the motions, but it is easier to put in hard graft every day when there is an end goal to aim at. In the case of Portuguese football, a World Cup carrot is dangling at the end of a four-year cycle stick.
Once the confetti has been swept away in New Jersey on July 19, 2026, attention will immediately turn to the next staging of FIFA’s flagship event. In 2030, hosting rights are to be shared by Portugal, Spain, and Morocco - with Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay also staging centenary fixtures.
Ronaldo’s first international tournament was a home European Championship in 2004, so could his last also play out on home soil? The appeal there is obvious.
Illustrious countryman
🏆 All eyes on #TheBest!
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 16, 2025
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Former Manchester United and Portugal team-mate Nani has joked that CR7 is “about to start a new diet to be ready” for 2030, while Pedro Mendes admits that an illustrious countryman could embrace “an opportunity to say goodbye at home”.
Only Ronaldo can decide whether there is enough left in the tank to complete another decade of competition with club and country, but do not bet against him giving that challenge everything he has.
