Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a> on Tuesday said that the FIFA World Cup 2026 would be his last as he winds down one of the all-time great careers.<\/p>\nThe 40-year-old forward, with more than 950 club and international goals, also said he would retire from football in \u201cone or two years\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely, yes,\u201d he told a Saudi forum by video link, when asked if 2026 would be his final World Cup. \u201cI\u2019m gonna be 41 years old and I think it will be the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ronaldo, who began a lucrative stint at Saudi Arabia\u2019s Al Nassr in 2023, also elaborated on comments last week when he said he would retire \u201csoon\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s be honest, when I mean soon, it\u2019s probably one or two years, I\u2019ll still be at the game,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The five-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner is hoping to play at a sixth World Cup next year. He came closest to lifting the trophy on debut in 2006, when Portugal lost to France in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n
Portugal have yet to qualify for the 2026 tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico, but can secure their spot if they beat Ireland on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Last month, Ronaldo became the top goalscorer in World Cup qualifying history when he netted twice against Hungary to reach 41 goals, overtaking retired Guatemalan international Carlos Ruiz\u2019s 39.<\/p>\n
The former Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus forward is also the all-time leading international goalscorer with 143 strikes.<\/p>\n
During an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored last week, Ronaldo opened up further about the realities of his looming retirement.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be difficult? Yes. Probably will cry, yes. I\u2019m an open person. It will be very, very difficult, yes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ronaldo joined Al Nassr after leaving Manchester United for a second time in late 2022, a move that heralded an influx of late-career stars to the oil-rich kingdom.<\/p>\n
Ronaldo initially signed for 200 million euros a year, according to a source close to Al Nassr at the time, and inked a two-year contract extension in June.<\/p>\n
Last month, he was named by Bloomberg as the sport\u2019s first billionaire, and topped the Forbes list of highest-paid footballers for the sixth time in a decade.<\/p>\n
With on-and off-field earnings of an estimated $280 million, Ronaldo will earn more than double that of second-placed rival Lionel Messi during the upcoming season, according to Forbes.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia, which is spending big on sports and entertainment as part of its economic diversification plan, was named as host of the 2034 World Cup last December.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Portuguese striker says he would retire from football in \u201cone or two years\u201d Cristiano Ronaldo is hoping to play in his sixth World Cup next year. Photo: AFP\/File RIYADH: Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo on Tuesday said that the FIFA World Cup 2026 would be his last as he winds down one of the all-time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/pg12-four-col1762870443-0\/pg12-four-col1762870443-0-640x480.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t