Timeline leading to Cristiano Ronaldo “crisis” talks with Portugal national team management | OneFootball

Portuguese sports paper A Bola called the current Ronaldo controversy a “Crisis Situation” in today’s edition

The transition from the Portugal national football team containing its greatest ever player, Cristiano Ronaldo, to the Portugal national football team post-CR7 is proving a tricky process for all involved.

“Crisis situation” screamed the headline of the front cover of today’s national sports paper A Bola, as the ramifications of Ronaldo being left on the bench for the entirety of a Seleção match for only the third time in his career continue to shake the foundations of the Portuguese Football Federation.

How did it come to this?

PortuGOAL outlines the timeline of the delicate situation surrounding the Seleção captain and the first matches under new Portugal manager Jorge Jesus.

07 July 2026: Portugal are knocked out of the World Cup after a 1-0 defeat to eventual champions Spain. Immediately after the match Portugal coach Roberto Martínez announces his resignation, and captain Cristiano Ronaldo says he will not play in another World Cup. When asked whether he will continue to play for Portugal, the captain responds: “Now is not the time to make that decision.”

10 July 2026: Jorge Jesus is officially unveiled as the new Portugal manager. The appointment significantly increased the likelihood of Ronaldo continuing his Seleção career, given that the two had worked together successfully at Al Nassr last season.

Asked about the role of Ronaldo in his Portugal team, Jorge Jesus responds: “Cris will never be a problem, either for the Seleção or for me. I had the pleasure of working with him for a year. When I thought he should play, he played. When I thought he shouldn’t play, he didn’t. I’ll do what I think is best for the Seleção.”

18 September 2026: Jorge Jesus announces his first Portugal squad for the opening four matches of the Nations League campaign. As expected, Cristiano Ronaldo is in it.

23 September 2026: In a highly unusual pre-match press conference ahead of the match against Wales in Lisbon, Jorge Jesus and Cristiano Ronaldo field questions in a packed conference hall at the Portugal summit.

Ronaldo explains that Jorge Jesus and the head of the Portuguese Football Federation, Pedro Proença, had had a meeting with him after the World Cup. “They said they are counting on me for the coming matches. I feel I can help with me performances and my goals, not because of my CV. The day I feel the coach and the president don’t count on me, I’ll be the first to pack my bags and leave.”

24 September 2026: Ronaldo starts as Portugal beat Wales 1-0 at Estádio José Alvalade. He misses a glaring chance to score, but soon afterwards puts the ball in the net with a neat finish, only for it to be ruled out by VAR. Ronaldo is substituted by Gonçalo Ramos on 67 minutes and is given a rousing ovation by the fans as he leaves the pitch.

27 September 2026: Portugal beat Norway 2-1 in Oslo. Ronaldo is among the substitutes but does not come off the bench. His replacement, Gonçalo Ramos, scores the winning goal.

It is only the third time Ronaldo stayed on the bench for the duration of the 90 minutes since becoming a Portugal regular 22 years ago. The other two times were against Switzerland at Euro 2008 when the entire first team was rested after having guaranteed top spot in the group, and a friendly match against Croatia.

As the final whistle blew, Ronaldo went straight down the tunnel and did not join his teammates in clapping the Portugal fans who had travelled to Oslo.

When asked about it and why he did not bring Ronaldo on, Jorge Jesus responded: “You will have to ask Ronaldo (why he didn’t clap the fans). I didn’t realise that happened. I will talk to him.

“As regards not bringing him on, I told Ronaldo before the match I would sub him on in the second half, but the way the match was panning out it did not make sense to do so.”

28-29 September 2026: Ronaldo’s reaction at the final whistle is the subject of harsh criticism and heated debate in the Portuguese media. Several reports suggest that Jorge Jesus had originally planned to use Ronaldo in only the home matches (against Wales and Norway) in this international break, but had changed his mind and told Ronaldo he would come off the bench in Oslo (as confirmed by JJ in the post-match press conference).

Ronaldo does not train with the rest of the team in preparation for the Denmark match. The official explanation is that he was doing gym work instead of participating in the on-the-pitch training sessions.

Given the way the story has blown up, Portuguese FPF head Pedro Proença cancels plans to be in the Azores where the Portugal U21 team are expected to confirm their qualification for Euro 2027 tonight, and flies straight to Copenhagen for what are being called “crisis talks” to resolve the Ronaldo situation.

30 September 2026: In the pre-match press conference ahead of tommorow’s match against Denmark Jorge Jesus says:

“It’s me who makes the decisions. With my teams, I’m the boss.

“It’s true that I told Cris that he wouldn’t play the away games against Norway and Denmark. Just like a talked to Bruno (Fernandes) about the plan for him for these matches. Remember, I worked with Ronaldo for a year in Saudi Arabia. He never trains the two days following a match.

“It’s true I said I’d put him on in the second half against Norway but I’m not a coach who decides what substitutions to make before the game. Given the state of the match, I decided he would not come on.

“Don’t make this a caso [literally the Portuguese word “caso” means a “case” but a more accurate translation in this context would be a “drama”]. I’ve had dramas with lots of other players in my career. Don’t make this into a drama that doesn’t exist!”