International press reacts to Cristiano Ronaldo display before the Cup | OneFootball

Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance in Portugal’s last friendly before the 2026 World Cup became the target of criticism and concern in the European press.

Despite Portugal’s 2-1 win over Nigeria, the clear scoring chances wasted by the No. 7 raised doubts.

CR7’s performance

The forward had four shots during the match, but failed to hit the target with any of them, missing at least two clear chances to score.

Reaction

Several outlets across the continent highlighted the contrast between the national team’s victory and the subdued night of its biggest star:

AS (🇪🇸): Described the player’s display as an "enigma." The outlet highlighted his lack of accuracy and noted that the performance raises concern on the eve of the opener, since Ronaldo is the starting center-forward and also failed to score in the previous friendly, against Chile.

A Bola (🇵🇹): Described the national team captain’s performance as a "gray night."

RMC Sport (🇫🇷): Labeled the star "clumsy" in the match, stressing that the situation only ended well thanks to young Francisco Conceição’s late winner.

Corriere dello Sport (🇮🇹): Echoed the remarks about CR7’s missed chances, preferring to praise the brilliance of Conceição — a Juventus player — in sealing Portugal’s win.

Bild (🇩🇪): Pointed out that the Portuguese star is still not in shape for the World Cup, noting that Ronaldo wasted several chances, and that was against an opponent that will not even be at the tournament. "CR7 did not show his usual finishing accuracy in the dress rehearsal for the tournament," the publication said.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

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