Portugal’s World Cup ended with Cristiano Ronaldo still on the pitch and Goncalo Ramos still on the bench. When the dust settled on a 1-0 Round-of-16 defeat to Spain in Texas on Monday, that decision — or non-decision — by Roberto Martinez became the most fiercely debated aspect of Portugal’s campaign, arguably more so than the defeat itself.
The question had lingered over Portugal’s tournament long before they landed in North America. Against Spain, however, it resurfaced in the starkest fashion. Eight years after Ronaldo’s stunning hat-trick against La Roja at the 2018 World Cup, the 41-year-old managed only three shots in Texas, two of them on target, and failed to find the net across the full 90 minutes.
Ronaldo also lost possession three times and, remarkably for a striker who played the entire match, touched the ball only 19 times — 12 in the first half, the fewest he has ever recorded in the opening 45 minutes of a World Cup game, and just seven in the second half, none after the 80th minute. To put that into perspective, 366 players at this World Cup registered more touches than Ronaldo despite him missing only nine minutes across Portugal’s five matches.
Zoom out to the tournament as a whole, however, and the picture becomes more complicated — and perhaps explains why Martinez persisted with him. Ronaldo finished with three goals, including a brace against Uzbekistan and a penalty against Croatia. Only four players at the tournament attempted more shots than his tally of 18, a figure level with joint-top scorer Erling Haaland. Yet he created just one chance for a teammate across five matches. That contrast — plenty of shots, very few touches and only one chance created — lies at the heart of the debate surrounding his role.
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The criticism from pundits has been unsparing.
“Portugal was not going to win the World Cup with a 41-year-old up front. That is not a controversial statement,” Craig Burley said on ESPN UK.
“Roberto Martinez facilitated this because Portugal racked up five, six or seven goals against whichever teams they played in the qualifiers. But the question was: should Portugal have trusted a 41-year-old at this stage against better-quality teams, given how good he has been?
“Ronaldo is brilliant, he has been brilliant, and I’m not arguing that. But this is a young man’s game. It is a game of pace, getting behind defenders and stretching teams, and he can’t do that anymore. Nobody cares about the goals he scored in Saudi Arabia or in the qualifiers. Portugal needed it on the biggest stage.”
Did Martinez make a mistake by not turning to Ramos?
Portugal generated only 0.58 expected goals (xG) from their 10 shots against a disciplined Spanish defence, yet Martinez never turned to Ramos despite the striker’s heroics against Croatia in the Round of 32.
Ramos had come off the bench in the 62nd minute of that match, replacing a visibly frustrated Ronaldo. Deep into stoppage time, he headed home the winner to send Portugal through.
Across his World Cup career, Ramos has scored four goals and provided one assist in just 187 minutes for Portugal — a goal involvement every 37 minutes on average. Much of that record stems from his unforgettable hat-trick on his first World Cup start against Switzerland in the 2022 Round of 16, the same match in which then-manager Fernando Santos took the bold decision to leave Ronaldo out.
His reputation has only grown since. AC Milan have reportedly agreed a club-record deal worth €74 million plus add-ons to sign him from Paris Saint-Germain.
Burley was particularly critical of Martinez’s handling of the situation.
“Portugal will nail Martinez to a mast back in Portugal for this. They’ve got to,” he said.
“It’s not about Ronaldo or his last World Cup. It’s about what was best for Portugal. Martinez made the decision for an individual, not for the team, and they paid the price.”
Former France international Frank Leboeuf offered a more tactical assessment.
“Ronaldo had some chances, including a half bicycle kick in the first half, but he wasn’t productive in the second half,” Leboeuf said.
“It would only have been fair to bring on Goncalo Ramos and offer something different. Martinez didn’t do that, and he paid the price.”
If truth be told, many felt Ronaldo’s World Cup story had effectively reached its conclusion in Qatar four years earlier, when he left the pitch in tears following Portugal’s quarterfinal defeat to Morocco. He scored only once in 291 minutes at that tournament, while Ramos’ breakout performance against Switzerland felt, to some, like the beginning of a generational handover.
Martinez, however, chose a different path. He backed Ronaldo, retained him as captain and continued to build around him rather than transition toward a younger focal point.
Chris Sutton was the most blunt in his criticism.
“Ronaldo was waddling around the field like a grandad, that’s why Portugal are out. Cristiano Ronaldo did nothing,” Sutton told BBC.
“What is Roberto Martinez doing? How can you pander to a player so much? Portugal are out because of Roberto Martinez.
“How did Goncalo Ramos not get on the pitch? It’s an absolute embarrassment from the manager, just pandering to his star player. Ronaldo is the most decorated player Portugal have ever had, but you’ve got to be stronger than that.”
Sutton added: “Goncalo Ramos played in the last 16 at the last World Cup and scored a hat-trick when the manager had the courage to leave Ronaldo out. We’re four years further on, Ronaldo is four years older, and look what’s happened.”
Martinez defends his decision
Martinez, for his part, insisted his faith in Ronaldo extended beyond tactical considerations.
“This is not the time to look for anything beyond the fact that we are talking about a football icon,” he said.
“There aren’t many Cristiano Ronaldos. I will forever appreciate what he tried to do in this World Cup because his dream was to win it. He was an incredible example of a captain, both on a footballing level and a human level.
“His impact inside the dressing room and within the group of players is something the entire coaching staff and all the players will carry with us forever. He is an example of football, of an athlete and of the human being behind the athlete.”
Martinez’s tenure will always include Portugal’s Nations League triumph in 2025. Yet when his World Cup campaign is remembered, it may be less for the matches Portugal won and more for the gamble he took on Ronaldo, and whether he waited too long to turn to the man sitting beside him on the bench.
