Cristiano Ronaldo Facing Criticism for What He Did During Portugal Game

Portugal took heavy criticism for allowing Cristiano Ronaldo to crack the starting lineup in his sixth World Cup at age 41.

While he’s undoubtedly one of the greatest players to ever step on the field, this version of Ronaldo might not be what Portugal needs to win a World Cup – and it showed during the team’s disappointing draw against Congo DR. Former soccer star Thierry Henry wasn’t afraid to take Ronaldo to task for a glaring mistake he made during the contest that could have cost his team the win.

“Cristiano Ronaldo has been in this situation multiple times. If you make that run here, you make the defender take a decision to go to the six-yard box,” he said. “But because he wants to score, he goes into the path of Bruno Fernandes.”

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“If he goes into the six-yard box, the defender would have had to follow him, a tap-in for Bruno Fernandes. But because he wants to score, he goes into the path of the back pass — you see both players and it’s easier for you to defend.

Video shows the run Henry is talking about.

“That’s my thing: the team needs to score, not you. You saw the reaction of Bruno Fernandes behind…’Let it roll. Make a run, create space so I can tap it in.’ It didn’t happen,” he added.

Ronaldo played the full 90 minutes in the draw and touched the ball just 25 times, which is the second fewest touches of his World Cup career.

Portugal is back in action against Uzbekistan on Tuesday in Houston before they face Colombia in their Group K final game on June 27.

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This story was originally published June 18, 2026 at 7:25 AM.