LISBON.- Cristiano Ronaldo announced his retirement from international football on Thursday, November 5, 2026, ending a 23-year career with Portugal in which he scored a record 146 goals in a record 234 appearances — and closing the book on one of the great rivalries in the history of the sport, weeks after Lionel Messi also stepped away from Argentina.
The 41-year-old broke the news in a long video posted to his social media accounts, in which he read a letter to his supporters, CNN reported. "The day has come for me to hand back the number 7 shirt of our national team," he said. "I never thought it belonged to me alone. But for 23 years, I had the privilege and the responsibility of wearing it."
A farewell without a stadium
Ronaldo gave no reason for the timing in the video, titled "Portugal will always be a part of me", but said the decision had not been easy. "It was not an easy decision, because there are decisions that are not made only with the head. They are also made with the heart," he said. "If I ever made you happy, if one of my goals ever made you hug someone, forget a worry or feel proud of our country, then it was all worth it."
The announcement came through social media rather than a stadium ovation, Reuters reported, and it arrived just before Portugal were due to name their squad for this month's UEFA Nations League fixtures against Denmark and Wales. The Portuguese Football Federation said in a statement on Thursday that it "refuses to let this farewell take place without due tribute", CNN reported, adding that it was its "firm and immense desire" to organise a fitting tribute in which fans and the country could applaud the player again. Whether that includes one final appearance on the pitch remains unclear.
The numbers no one else owns
Ronaldo made his senior debut for Portugal in August 2003 and went on to play a world-record 234 times for his country, scoring 146 goals — both men's international records, CNN reported. No man has scored more goals or made more appearances for his national team.
He captained Portugal to their first major trophy, the European Championship in 2016, and added UEFA Nations League titles in 2019 and 2025. At this summer's World Cup in North America he became the first player to play and score in six consecutive World Cups, scoring three goals at the 2026 edition, Al Jazeera reported. Portugal beat Croatia in the last 32 — Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot — before losing to Spain in the round of 16. "I'm sad to be leaving the World Cup like this," he said at the time. "I gave it my all. I did my best, and I'm leaving with a clear conscience. It was my last World Cup, yes, but I'll now have time to reflect and be with my family."
The rift that ended it
The ending was clouded by a public falling-out with Portugal's new head coach, Jorge Jesus, that had been building for weeks. Ronaldo spent the entire 2-1 Nations League win away to Norway on September 27 on the bench — the first time since November 2024 that he had not featured for Portugal despite not being injured or suspended, Al Jazeera reported. Three days earlier he had captained the side in the 1-0 home win over Wales in Lisbon, on September 24, which proved to be his final appearance.
On September 30, Ronaldo walked out of Portugal's training camp in Copenhagen, hours after Jesus confirmed at a news conference that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner would be left out of his starting lineup for the Nations League match against Denmark — a second consecutive absence. "Following the national team manager's press conference, and after a conversation with the President of the Portuguese Football Federation, I have decided to leave the national team's training camp," Ronaldo wrote on Instagram at the time. He was handed a 30-day suspension, AFP reported, and later apologised.
Six days after leaving the camp, Ronaldo gave his own account of the dispute, accusing Jesus of twice breaking his word. He said the coach had agreed to a plan under which the forward would miss the Norway and Denmark matches to manage his fitness, but on the day of the Norway game told him he would play for 30 minutes. "Everyone knows the rest. I warmed up from half-time onwards, watched the minutes tick by and wasn't called on," Ronaldo said. "The manager had broken his word to me." He said a later agreement — under which he did not ask Jesus to apologise — was also contradicted by the coach's public remarks. "It was the second time he had broken his word to me," he said. "I decided to leave the training camp without waiting for any further broken promises."
Jesus, who also coached Ronaldo at Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr, had left the door open for a return. "If he wants to, he'll return to the national team. We can talk before the next call-up, but Cris is the one who's going to decide," he said. "He's the one who should decide how he wants to end his time with the national team."
Not the end of football — yet
Ronaldo is not retiring from football altogether. He still plays for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, where he is closing in on 1,000 career goals — he is currently on 985, CNN reported. His contract with the club runs until June 2027, though in an interview published in August he told Vogue: "This is probably my last year of football, and I want to leave a spectacular legacy," USA Today reported.
His departure follows that of his long-term rival, Lionel Messi, who played his final match for Argentina last month, Reuters reported. The two defined an era of football together for nearly two decades; within weeks of each other, both have now closed their international careers. Messi's own honours were recognised this year with the Princess of Asturias Award — see Messi Becomes the First Footballer to Win Spain's Princess of Asturias Award for Sports on His Own.
What remains open
The federation has not said when — or in what form — its promised tribute will take place, or whether Ronaldo will wear the Portugal shirt one last time in front of a home crowd. Portugal must also move on without him on the pitch: the squad for the Nations League games against Denmark and Wales later this month will be the first named in the post-Ronaldo era, and Jesus will have to settle a forward line that, for 23 years, was built around one man. The other open question is the club one: whether Ronaldo, at 41, plays out his Al-Nassr contract to 2027 or calls time sooner, as his own words in August suggested he might.
Read more on The Wire Post: Messi Becomes the First Footballer to Win Spain's Princess of Asturias Award for Sports on His Own and Neymar Sent Off Under 'Vini Jr Law' After Covering His Mouth in Clash With Bahia's Rodrigo Nestor.
Sources: CNN, November 5, 2026; Reuters, November 5, 2026; Al Jazeera, November 5, 2026; USA Today, November 5, 2026; Agence France-Presse, November 5, 2026. Cover photo: Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal's shirt during the Croatia v Portugal match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Toronto on July 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0, Bryan Berlin / WikiPortraits via Wikimedia Commons), with a small flag of Portugal added in the top-right corner. The photo is from his last World Cup, not from today's announcement.