Portugal's 1-1 draw with DR Congo was one of the biggest surprises of the opening round of the 2026 World Cup, and it immediately reignited a debate that has been quietly following the national team for the last two years. For all the talent Portugal possess across the pitch, too much of their game still revolves around Cristiano Ronaldo, and against DR Congo that dependence looked more like a weakness than a strength.
The numbers alone paint a worrying picture. Ronaldo failed to register a single shot on target, won just one of his five duels and touched the ball only 25 times throughout the match. It was the lowest touch count of his World Cup career and the lowest total of any player on the pitch. More concerning than the statistics, however, was the way Portugal approached the game. Even as Roberto Martinez made four attacking substitutions, the team's attacking structure barely changed. Portugal continued to search for Ronaldo at every opportunity, repeatedly sending crosses into the penalty area and hoping their captain would eventually make the difference. By full time, they had delivered 23 crosses, one of the highest totals recorded by any team in the tournament so far, but produced little to show for it.
The performance felt strangely familiar. It resembled the Portugal side that struggled at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where attacks often became predictable because everything was directed toward Ronaldo. What makes this particularly frustrating for Martinez is that Portugal had actually shown signs of moving beyond that approach during World Cup qualifying. The coaching staff gradually reduced Ronaldo's involvement in attacking sequences, with less than 20 percent of Portugal's attacks flowing directly through him. For a player who spent most of his career as the focal point of every team he played for, it was a dramatic shift. Yet the results were encouraging. Portugal remained dangerous going forward, while Ronaldo adapted by contributing in different ways. Rather than acting as the final destination of every move, he increasingly created space for teammates with intelligent movement and positional awareness. In several matches, his off-ball work was arguably more valuable than his direct involvement with the ball.
Against DR Congo, however, Portugal abandoned that balance and slipped back into old habits. Whenever the team faced a difficult moment, the instinctive reaction was to funnel possession toward Ronaldo. The problem is that the version of Ronaldo who could carry an entire national team no longer exists. At 41 years old, he remains one of football's greatest icons, but he is currently enduring an eight-match goal drought for Portugal and no longer influences games in the same way he once did. The reality is uncomfortable but increasingly difficult to ignore: Portugal may have reached the point where their captain is limiting the team more than he is helping it.
That naturally raises the question Martinez will eventually have to answer. If Ronaldo is no longer the best option, who replaces him? The most obvious candidate is Gonçalo Ramos. Unlike Ronaldo, Ramos offers relentless pressing, constant movement and a level of physical intensity that better suits the modern game. He also has the advantage of playing alongside Vitinha, João Neves and Nuno Mendes at Paris Saint-Germain, giving Portugal an existing chemistry between key players. The national team has already seen what Ramos can do on the biggest stage. When Ronaldo was dropped for the Round of 16 match against Switzerland at the 2022 World Cup, Ramos responded with a hat-trick and one of the most dominant centre-forward performances Portugal have produced in years.
There are other possibilities too. Portugal possess enough technical quality to operate without a traditional striker altogether. João Félix has experience playing as a false nine and would offer greater mobility across the front line, allowing players such as Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and Rafael Leão to attack spaces rather than constantly delivering service into the box. Such a system would inevitably make Portugal less predictable and harder to defend against, particularly against opponents willing to sit deep and wait for crosses.
The tactical argument for change is convincing, but football at this level is rarely decided by tactics alone. Ronaldo's presence creates a political challenge that few coaches would willingly embrace. Fernando Santos discovered that in Qatar. Despite Portugal arguably playing their best football of the tournament after dropping Ronaldo, the decision generated enormous pressure and controversy. Santos was gone shortly afterwards. Martinez understands that benching Ronaldo is not simply a football decision. It means managing the expectations of supporters, media and perhaps even the player himself.
That is why the coming weeks may define Portugal's entire World Cup campaign. Martinez finds himself caught between loyalty and pragmatism. He can continue building around the greatest player in Portuguese football history and hope Ronaldo rediscovers the form that once made him unstoppable, or he can make a difficult but potentially transformative decision and reshape the team around players better suited to the demands of modern international football. Neither path is without risk, but after what happened against DR Congo, standing still may be the most dangerous option of all. Portugal remain one of the most talented squads in the tournament, yet talent alone will not be enough if the team continues looking backward instead of forward. For the first time in many years, the biggest challenge facing Portugal is not finding a way to get the best out of Cristiano Ronaldo. It may be finding a way to succeed without him.
Published by Patrick Jane
22.06.2026