Thanks to a convincing win against Armenia, Portugal has secured its ticket to the 2026 World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo, aged 41, is expected to feature but could miss the first two group games.
Even without Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal secured their World Cup ticket for 2026 with a shooting festival in their third attempt. The Seleção won confidently against Armenia 9:1 (5:1) and is taking part in the finals for the seventh time in a row.
Ronaldo wasn’t at the Porto stadium because of his red card in the game against Ireland, but kept his fingers crossed from afar. “Let’s go, boys. Everyone together, for Portugal and our flag,” CR7 wrote on social media before kick-off.
Hat trick by Fernandes and Neves
His teammates followed up with action: Bruno Fernandes (45th+3, penalty kick/51st/72nd penalty kick) and João Neves (30th/41st/81st) scored three goals each, and former Augsburg player Renato Veiga (7th), Goncalo Ramos (28th) and Francisco Conceição (90th+2) also scored. Eduard Spertsyan (18th) equalized for Armenia.
Long before the final whistle, the fans celebrated the second biggest victory in Portugal’s history, but above all their participation in the World Cup. Portugal had only won higher in the 9-0 win against Luxembourg in September 2023.
Sixth World Cup for Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo is about to win his sixth World Cup, something no footballer has ever achieved before. However, it remains to be seen whether the 41-year-old will miss one or even two group games. Portugal’s association apparently wants to obtain a short ban from the world association FIFA and release the top star for the start of the final round. According to the Portuguese newspaper A Bola, the FPF association wants to apply for a ban of just one game.
It is usual for attacks like Ronaldo’s elbow check in Dublin to involve at least three games. This would mean he would miss the first two World Cup group duels. His hunt for records would then also be slowed down. Portugal’s record player and goalscorer is the only player to date to score at least one goal in five different World Cup tournaments: 2006 (1), 2010 (1), 2014 (1), 2018 (4) and 2022 (1).
Portugal had previously missed three match points: in a 2-2 draw against Hungary, they were only a few seconds away from winning, followed by a 2-0 defeat in Ireland – with the red card against Ronaldo as the low point.