Ronaldo warmed up for half an hour but was still not allowed to play by coach Jorge Jesus.
It all started when Ronaldo and coach Jorge Jesus attended the press conference together before Portugal's 1-0 victory over Wales on September 25th.
Ronaldo's career was once predicted to end on a positive note, but it didn't turn out the way he had hoped.
Photo: Reuters
Here, Ronaldo emphasized that he will not retire from international football after the 2026 World Cup , thanks to the support of his coach Jorge Jesus and the President of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), Pedro Proenca.
Coach Jorge Jesus and Ronaldo also worked together at Al Nassr FC during the 2025-2026 season. They subsequently won the Saudi Pro League together. Ronaldo has also set two major goals as he continues to play for the Portuguese national team: winning the UEFA Nations League and completing his record of scoring 1,000 goals.
Meanwhile, coach Jorge Jesus also confirmed that calling up Ronaldo was essential for the Portuguese national team. They also agreed that CR7 will play in at least two of Portugal's four matches in the ongoing UEFA Nations League 2026-2027 season. These are the match against Wales and the match against Norway on October 5th. Both of these matches will be played at home.
"Initially, everything went smoothly. Ronaldo started the match against Wales (September 25). He played 66 minutes and scored a goal, but it was disallowed. Until then, everything was fine," the Spanish newspaper MARCA reported.
"But then on the morning of the second match against Norway away from home (September 28th, Vietnam time), coach Jorge Jesus changed his mind and told Ronaldo that he needed him for this match, but he might bring him on for the last 30 minutes."
What happened? In this match, with the score at 1-1 in the 51st minute after Haaland 's equalizer, Ronaldo started warming up. However, Portugal took the lead again in the 54th minute with a 2-1 score by Goncalo Ramos, and the situation after that didn't allow CR7 to come on as the team needed to protect the result. He warmed up for half an hour but wasn't allowed to play and left the stadium in anger," MARCA reported.
Ronaldo's actions seem to be bringing an end to his international playing career.
Ronaldo did not train with the rest of the Portuguese national team in Denmark, where they were preparing for their next match on September 30th. He left for his hotel during the training session; he trained alone in the gym, MARCA added. According to the leading Spanish sports newspaper, Ronaldo stayed in a separate hotel room in Denmark, isolated from the rest of the Portuguese team.
Ronaldo has effectively closed the door on all his chances of playing for the Portuguese national team.
Photo: Reuters
The situation therefore became extremely tense. On the same day, September 30th, FPF President Pedro Proenca canceled an event to fly urgently to Copenhagen to mediate the situation. No one knows exactly what happened during the meeting between Proenca, Ronaldo, and coach Jorge Jesus.
However, in the pre-match press conference shortly afterwards, coach Jorge Jesus confirmed that he would not include Ronaldo in the squad for the match against Denmark. The coach also stated that he put the team's best interests first.
"Coach Jorge Jesus's press conference angered Ronaldo," MARCA revealed. The star immediately requested his private jet to fly from Madrid (Spain) to Copenhagen. He then left his hotel and returned to Madrid on October 1st. At the same time, Ronaldo also announced his departure from the Portuguese national team, promising to tell the truth about his reasons at an appropriate time.
MARCA 's sources also revealed that coach Jorge Jesus and FPF President Pedro Proenca went to the airport to persuade Ronaldo to change his mind. But the 41-year-old star still refused.
"Is this Ronaldo's farewell to the national team? It's difficult to say for sure at this moment, as it has only just happened. However, CR7's journey of scoring 146 goals in 234 matches for Portugal may have come to an end," MARCA concluded.