Saturday, November 14, 2026

Teary Ronaldo says World Cup career over as Spain beat Portugal

“It’s been my last World Cup, yes. But now I will have time to think, stay with my family, and life continues,” said Ronaldo.

• July 7, 2026
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo has confirmed that he has played his last FIFA World Cup after Portugal suffered a 1-0 loss to Spain in their round-of-16 match at the Dallas Stadium on Monday.

Mikel Merino scored the only goal of the high-profile encounter in stoppage time to eliminate the Real Madrid legend and his Portuguese teammates from the World Cup.

Speaking to reporters after the match, the 41-year-old, who was in tears after the final whistle, revealed that he had played his final World Cup match, stating, “It’s been my last World Cup, yes. But now I will have time to think, stay with my family, and life continues. I’m sad to be going out of the World Cup like this. But I gave it my all; I did my best.

“That’s football. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I will wake up tomorrow in the same mood as I did today. I did my best. I won three titles with Portugal. Before me, there were zero titles. I can only be happy.”

Ronaldo, however, said he had yet to decide whether to retire from international football altogether.

“I still don’t know if I will retire from the Portuguese national team right now. We’ll see. I don’t want to decide just yet; I need to discuss it with my family. I don’t want to distract attention with something personal,” Ronaldo explained.

At this World Cup, Ronaldo broke multiple records, including becoming the first player to score in six different World Cup tournaments, the oldest player to score multiple goals in a match and the oldest player to score in the knockout stage. 

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

Nigerian Bar Association

States

Independence: NBA urges Nigerians to expect better future

The NBA said that ordinary Nigerians should be deriving benefit from the subsidy removal rather than hardship.

farmers

Agriculture

FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology

The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC)

Economy

NDIC warns Nigerians against Ponzi schemes, says investments not insured

The corporation expressed concern over the increasing activities of fraudulent investment platforms.

Former Aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode

NationWide

Ooni congratulates Fani-Kayode as he assumes duty as Nigeria’s ambassador to South Africa

Ooni said the appointment reflected the capacity of an illustrious son of Ile-Ife to serve the country on the international stage.

Fani-Kayode and president of South Africa

Heading 2

Your approach to livestream exclusion ‘grossly inappropriate’, South African presidency tells Fani-Kayode

Mr Fani-Kayode hadalleged that the South African presidency omitted the introduction of the Nigerian delegation and his speech during livestream.

WHO

Hot news Home top

WHO hails Nigeria as 62 contacts test negative for Ebola after 21-day isolation

Mr Ghebreyesus said Nigeria had entered the second half of the mandatory 42-day countdown.

drug trafficking

Diaspora

20 Nigerians arrested in Pakistan over alleged drug trafficking

According to the ANF, the arrests followed a series of intelligence-gathering operations targeting drug dealers in the country.

Atiku Abubakar

Heading 3

Living in Nigeria under Tinubu unbearable; cooking gas unaffordable: Atiku 

Mr Abubakar said he was in Bauchi to continue preaching his affordable life campaign.