How Ronaldo's World Cup legacy went down the drain

On May 21, 2026, Jorge Jesus’ Al-Nassr claimed their first Saudi Pro League title in seven years, with Cristiano Ronaldo bagging the 35th title of his career as well as his second with Al-Nassr after the 2023 Arab Champions Cup.

On that same day, Ronaldo’s national team manager Roberto Martinez predicted a successful World Cup for Portugal, stating, “I believe in numerology. I think the number 6 can bring us luck. In 2016 Portugal won the European Championship, in 1966 they achieved their best-ever World Cup result, and in 2006 they reached the semi-finals.”

It took fewer than seven weeks for Martinez’s intuition to be proven correct, although not in quite the same way that he’d have hoped. On July 6, Portugal found themselves in the midst of a heated battle against Spain in Dallas when Martinez’s compatriot opted to bring on Mikel Merino and Fabián Ruiz for Dani Olmo and Pedri.

Six minutes later, Merino scored the sole goal of the match to secure Spain’s passage to the quarterfinal, where they will meet Belgium in Los Angeles. Martinez immediately stepped down from his post, with Jesus replacing him, and now finds himself in search of the sixth job of his coaching career. And as for Ronaldo, he ended his sixth and final World Cup without the one trophy that he had coveted more than any.