October 6, 2026 was supposed to be all about Lionel Messi.
This was the day that the Argentina icon’s retirement from international football would become official, with the 39-year-old having decided to bow out following his country’s friendly against Benin.
Indeed, this was still Messi’s day, as almost 80,000 fans packed into the Estadio Monumental to bear witness to the final chapter of an incredible international career, while tens of thousands more lined the streets outside the arena.
However, just hours before kick-off in Buenos Aires, world football’s news agenda was suddenly dominated by an extraordinary statement released by Messi’s great rival, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Whether the timing was deliberate or merely coincidental, Ronaldo could hardly have picked a more intriguing day to break his silence.
After all, while Messi was preparing for his farewell match, Ronaldo was discussing the prospect of his own — albeit while suggesting that he is not ready for it yet, despite walking out of Portugal’s latest camp.
Argentina beat Benin in Lionel Messi’s last game
Argentina legend Messi was the focus of a national celebration on Tuesday night as he called time on his international career in front of a sell-out crowd at Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.
There were cheers, tears and tributes paid from all angles as Argentina said goodbye and thank you to its most famous footballing son.
Messi, who himself was seen crying during the event, marked his 208th and final Argentina appearance by delivering two assists and one goal in a 3-0 win over the side ranked 19th in Africa.
Messi’s final Argentina appearance in numbers
Why did Cristiano Ronaldo walk out on Portugal?
Messi’s Argentina farewell came barely a week after Ronaldo’s Portugal career had appeared to be thrown into serious doubt.
The 41-year-old was an unused substitute against Norway on September 27 and was visibly frustrated after being sent to warm up during the second half without subsequently being brought onto the pitch.
Ronaldo then left Portugal’s Nations League camp altogether before their next fixture against Denmark, promising at the time that he would eventually tell supporters “the truth” about his decision.
On October 6, he did exactly that.
In a lengthy statement setting out his version of events, Ronaldo revealed that he had actually prepared a farewell message of his own following the 2026 World Cup, only for the president of the Portuguese Football Federation to ask him to reconsider his decision to leave international football.
Ronaldo also revealed that he had backed the appointment of Jorge Jesus as Portugal manager and claimed the pair subsequently agreed a plan for how he would be used during the current Nations League campaign.
According to Ronaldo, Norway away had not initially been one of the games he was scheduled to play. Ronaldo claims that on the day of the match, Jesus asked whether he was ready to feature for 30 minutes.
Ronaldo insists he was ready and he warmed up from half-time, only to wait for a call that never came.
“The coach broke his promise,” Ronaldo said in his mammoth statement, which exceeded 1,500 words.
In it, Ronaldo also accepted that his subsequent failure to acknowledge supporters after the match was a mistake.
But Ronaldo claims that was not the end of the disagreement.
He said a meeting subsequently took place involving himself, Jesus and Al-Nassr sporting director Simao Coutinho, during which it was agreed that the Portugal boss would publicly explain what had happened.
Ronaldo claims Jesus did not stick to that agreement either, describing it as the second time the manager had broken his word.
That, Ronaldo says, prompted him to leave the Portugal camp.
However, he also accepted full responsibility for walking out, apologised to his teammates and called on the Portuguese Football Federation to punish him.
“I have already apologised, but I know that actions have consequences,” he said.
Has Cristiano Ronaldo retired from Portugal?
Despite significant speculation regarding his future with Portugal, Ronaldo’s statement made it very clear that he intends to represent his country again and to add to his record haul of 234 caps.
Ronaldo acknowledged that there had been plenty of discussion about how his Portugal career should eventually end.
“I have heard a lot about farewell matches,” Ronaldo said just hours before Messi’s farewell match. “And that I need a farewell befitting me, and that the federation wishes to grant me this opportunity.”
He then promised supporters that “one or more farewell matches” would eventually take place.
Ronaldo went on to say that, provided he remains physically fit, continues playing for his club and is scoring goals, he intends to make himself available for Portugal again once any suspension resulting from his walkout has been served.
Jesus has also publicly left the door open for Ronaldo, saying after Portugal’s latest win over Norway that his captain can return if he wants to.
So, barring another dramatic change of heart, Ronaldo has not played his final game for Portugal.
When could Cristiano Ronaldo play for Portugal again?
Portugal’s next international fixtures are at home to Denmark on November 14 before travelling to face Wales three days later.
Whether Ronaldo is available for either game will depend on what punishment, if any, he receives for leaving the previous camp.
But the bigger question may be how much longer he intends to continue.
Ronaldo claims he had already prepared a farewell message after the 2026 World Cup. He has now openly discussed the prospect of one or more farewell matches. Yet he remains determined that, for now at least, he should be viewed as a competitive member of the Portugal squad rather than a legend embarking on a ceremonial goodbye.
At 41, there is nothing inherently wrong with that. Ronaldo remains a prolific goalscorer at club level and his international record speaks for itself.
But time is undefeated.
The next major international tournament is Euro 2028, when Ronaldo will be 43. Should he somehow continue all the way to the 2030 World Cup, he will be 45.
There surely has to come a point when Portugal’s future becomes more important than extending Ronaldo’s extraordinary past.
Do Portugal still need Cristiano Ronaldo?
Portugal have an extraordinary collection of attacking talent, while Goncalo Ramos has increasingly demonstrated that the team can function perfectly well without its record goalscorer.
Indeed, Portugal responded to Ronaldo’s departure from the latest camp by beating Denmark 4-2 before another 2-1 victory over Norway secured their place in the Nations League quarter-finals.
Ramos scored in all three of his starts during Ronaldo’s absence.
The wider numbers are also interesting. Since 2017, Portugal have won 63% of matches in which Ronaldo has featured compared with a 64% win-rate without him.
They have averaged 2.1 goals per game with Ronaldo during that period and 2.7 without him.
None of that proves Portugal are a better team without Cristiano Ronaldo.
But it does demonstrate something increasingly important: they are perfectly capable of winning without him.
Messi v Ronaldo: Who had the better international career?
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been compared against one another for the majority of their extraordinary careers, with the Messi v Ronaldo debate unlikely to disappear just because one of them has now retired at the international level.
Therefore, it is only fitting that their international achievements be placed side by side now that Messi has retired from Argentina duty and Ronaldo is entering the final chapter of his Portugal career.
Messi vs Ronaldo international career stats
Messi ended his Argentina career with 208 appearances, 126 goals and 70 assists, while Ronaldo currently stands on 146 goals and 45 assists from 234 Portugal appearances.
In terms of pure goalscoring, Ronaldo has the edge. His 146 international goals have earned a world record and, while he has played more games, his superior tally is not simply a product of longevity. Ronaldo averages 0.62 goals per appearance, marginally better than Messi’s 0.61.
However, the balance shifts when assists are added to the equation. Messi’s 70 assists take him to 196 direct goal contributions for Argentina, an average of 0.94 per game. Ronaldo’s 191 goals and assists work out at 0.82 per appearance.
Messi also has the edge when it comes to silverware, with four major international trophies to Ronaldo’s three. Most significantly, Messi has the one prize that always eluded his great rival: the World Cup.
Does Cristiano Ronaldo deserve more respect?
Ronaldo’s latest statement is particularly interesting when viewed alongside his social media activity following his departure from the Portugal camp.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner liked an Instagram post featuring former Brazil international Felipe Melo discussing the apparent contrasting treatment of Ronaldo and Messi.
Melo claimed there was a “grotesque difference” between the way Argentina’s players treated Messi and the lack of respect shown to Ronaldo by his Portugal teammates.
“You can’t let the best player in history leave like that, as if nothing had happened,” Melo said.
This was hardly the first time that a comparison with Messi has appeared to strike a nerve with Ronaldo.
Opposition supporters in Saudi Arabia have repeatedly used chants of “Messi” to provoke the Portuguese star. One such incident following Al-Nassr’s win over Al-Shabab in February 2024 resulted in Ronaldo being suspended for one match after he responded with an obscene gesture.
None of that proves Ronaldo deliberately chose the day of Messi’s farewell to release his latest statement. But given the history of a rivalry that has followed both players for almost two decades, the timing was always going to attract attention.
It goes without saying that Ronaldo deserves enormous respect for what he has achieved for his country.
He has scored more goals and earned more caps than any other player in history, won three major trophies with Portugal and represented his country at six World Cups and six European Championships.
But perhaps there is another reason why Ronaldo and Messi are being treated differently.
They have behaved differently.
Messi has chosen to end his international career while he remains an automatic starter and arguably Argentina’s most important player.
Ronaldo, by contrast, has chosen to continue into a period in which his place in Portugal’s starting XI can no longer be guaranteed — and the first time he spent an entire competitive international on the bench in 18 years, the episode ultimately ended with him leaving the Portugal camp.
Respect for everything Ronaldo has achieved and the question of whether he should continue to command an automatic place in Portugal’s starting XI are two completely different things.
That may ultimately be the biggest difference between the situations in which Ronaldo and Messi now find themselves.
Messi walked away while still Argentina’s main man
Messi, who is 28 months younger than Ronaldo, was still Argentina’s outstanding player at the recent 2026 World Cup, where he delivered eight goals and four assists in eight games.
He led Argentina to a second consecutive final, having inspired his country to World Cup glory with seven goals and three assists four years earlier.
By contrast, Ronaldo netted just once in five appearances for Portugal at the 2022 World Cup, although he then added three more goals in five games at the 2026 event.
The warning signs surrounding his status in the Portugal team are not new.
Ronaldo was famously dropped for Portugal’s last-16 clash with Switzerland at the 2022 World Cup.
Portugal won 6-1, with his replacement Goncalo Ramos scoring a hat-trick.
Despite the emphatic result, Ronaldo’s partner Georgina Rodriguez was quick to express her disappointment that supporters had not “been able to enjoy the best player in the world during the 90 minutes.”
Whether Ronaldo was at one point the best player in the world depends on who you ask. The Ballon d’Or record books certainly support that argument, as he won the award in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017.
But Ronaldo was certainly no longer the world’s best player in 2022. Nor is he now.
That statement should not be remotely controversial. What Ronaldo is doing at 41 is extraordinary, and his desire to continue competing at the highest possible level is one of the characteristics that helped make him one of the football legends.
But the qualities that helped take him to the top may also make accepting his decline particularly difficult.
For a player who has spent virtually his entire career as the main man, becoming part of the supporting cast must be an enormous adjustment.
Like Messi, Ronaldo’s extraordinary international career deserves a fitting farewell. But for all involved, it may well be a case of the sooner the better.
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