Cristiano Ronaldo will make a record sixth World Cup appearance after being named in Portugal’s squad for this summer’s competition. Ronaldo is set to become the first-ever player to achieve the feat, if he makes an appearance.
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The 41-year-old has also scored in five straight World Cups, a record he set during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Ronaldo made his World Cup debut in Germany 2006 and the closest he came to winning the title was in the semi-finals during his debut. He went on to appear in South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014, Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is now set to bring the elusive title home for possibly his last appearance at the tournament. In addition, Ronaldo has played 226 international matches for Portugal and scored 143 goals, both all-time records in men’s international football.
Meanwhile, Portugal announced a 27-man squad, which also include Manchester United trio Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Dalot and Matheus Nunes. The Seleção will kick off the tournament against DR Congo on June 17 before facing debutants Uzbekistan and Colombia on June 23 and 27 respectively. Before then, Roberto Martinez men will face Chile (June 6) and Nigeria (June 10) in international friendlies.
Portugal World Cup squad full list
Goalkeepers: Diogo Costa (FC Porto), José Sá (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Rui Silva (Sporting CP); Ricardo Velho (Genclerbirligi Ankara).
Defenders: Diogo Dalot (Manchester United); Matheus Nunes (Manchester City), Nélson Semedo (Fenerbahçe SK), João Cancelo (FC Barcelona), Nuno Mendes (PSG), Gonçalo Inácio (Sporting CP), Renato Veiga (Villarreal); Rúben Dias (Manchester City); Tomás Araújo (SL Benfica).
Midfielders: Rúben Neves (Al Hilal), Samuel Costa (Mallorca), João Neves (PSG), Vitinha (PSG), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City).
Forwards: João Félix (Al Nassr), Francisco Trincão (Sporting CP), Francisco Conceição (Juventus), Pedro Neto (Chelsea), Rafael Leão (AC Milan), Gonçalo Guedes (Real Sociedad), Gonçalo Ramos (PSG); Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr).
