When Wednesday night’s State of Origin decider kicks off at Suncorp Stadium, the stakes stretch far beyond 12 months of interstate bragging rights and the potential end of a coaching tenure. Beyond the cheers and heartbreak that will define the final 80 minutes of the 2024 series, the match will shape the careers of two of Australian rugby league’s brightest halfback talents: Nathan Cleary of the New South Wales Blues and Queensland Maroons rookie Sam Walker. Both men enter the decider as co-winners of the opening two games’ man-of-the-match honours, carrying famous rugby league surnames and vastly different personal stakes into the biggest match of the series. For Cleary, 28, a win on enemy territory would put to rest an enduring narrative that has lingered despite an already legendary career. Over 11 years in professional rugby league, Cleary has claimed four NRL premierships, two Clive Churchill Medals for grand final player of the year, a World Cup title, an Ashes series win, and three previous Origin series. Yet critics have continually pointed to one gap in his resume: he has never won an Origin decider, holding an 0-3 record in final-game deciders, leading to ongoing claims he has yet to truly dominate the Origin arena. A series-clinching win for the Blues would not only end that debate permanently, it would also almost certainly hand Cleary the coveted Wally Lewis Medal for player of the series, following his standout performance in game one. While his teammates have downplayed the external pressure on the star, who anchors the most dominant club side of the modern NRL era, Cleary says he has learned to reframe the weight of expectation as a positive. “You definitely feel it, but I feel it every single week; not just the big games,” Cleary told reporters ahead of the match. “I think it’s more of a pressure on me because I want to play my best game every single week. It’s obviously not attainable, but I want to do my best for the team to put ourselves in the best position to win. Sometimes you’ll just get hit with nerves that you’re not even expecting, and that’s just the body’s reaction. But dealing with those and actually realising that we’re in such a great position and have such a great opportunity to turn that into a positive is what’s ultimately changed. Probably earlier in my career, once I started feeling nerves, it would make me even more nervous and would spiral a bit. Now I definitely frame it as a positive thing. If you went through life without nerves or any of those high emotions, it would be quite a boring life.” Like Cleary, Walker carries a legacy tied to rugby league royalty. Cleary’s father Ivan forged a successful playing career before becoming one of the NRL’s most decorated modern coaches. Walker’s father Ben and uncles Chris and Shane all played top-flight NRL, and the younger Walker has inherited their unconventional, creative approach to the game. At 24, four years Cleary’s junior, Walker has yet to play in an NRL grand final, but his introduction to State of Origin has already exceeded all expectations. Drafted into the Maroons side to replace injured starter Tom Dearden, the rookie has already turned heads with his performance across the first two games of the series, and a series win would land him one of the biggest paydays in recent halfback history. For years, Walker was written off by scouts and analysts who questioned whether his smaller frame could withstand the physical intensity of top-level rugby league. But his spontaneous, unpredictable style of play has drawn inevitable comparisons to Queensland legend Allan “Alfie” Langer, another small, dynamic Ipswich-bred halfback who defied expectations to dominate the Origin arena. “You hate comparing him to the Alfie Langer journey, but the similarities are there for all to see,” Queensland Rugby League chief executive Ben Ikin said. “A small blonde-haired Queensland halfback who people didn’t know whether he’d be resilient enough to dominate at that level. Beyond that, both of them have their own unique approach to how they see the game and play the game. Sam, like Alfie, stepped into the maroon jersey. For those who know him well, they weren’t surprised. But for the rest of us, any doubts we had about this kid have been dispelled.” Maroons coach Billy Slater’s decision to hand Walker a starting spot was seen as a risky gamble when it was announced, but the move has already paid off in spades, proving that unorthodox playing styles can thrive on the Origin’s biggest stage. Ikin notes that Walker’s upbringing in a family that prioritizes creative, flexible coaching has given him an edge that opposing teams struggle to prepare for. “Sam has this unique way of playing the game,” Ikin said. “For a couple of decades, there’s been a lot of cookie-cutter football that has been largely driven by coaches. But now we’ve got this bloke whose father and uncle have got their own unique style of coaching, and he’s learnt a lot from them. For me, that means that at the NRL level and in Origin, because he’s unpredictable, he’s hard to coach against. It’s pleasing for me that he’s been able to transition that style from NRL into the toughest version of our game.” As kickoff draws near, both players are poised to leave permanent marks on the 2024 series, regardless of the final score. For Cleary, a win will cement his status as an Origin great; for Walker, a breakout performance in a series-winning Maroons side will confirm he belongs among the game’s elite, and set him up for the massive contract that has already been within sight.
分类： sports
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Ronaldo’s World Cup career ends in tears as ‘pandering’ Martinez departs
The 2026 FIFA World Cup’s round of 16 delivered one of the tournament’s most poignant moments in Dallas, as a 1-0 extra-time win for Spain over Portugal closed the book on what is almost certainly Cristiano Ronaldo’s final appearance at the global competition.
Mikel Merino’s injury-time winner secured Spain’s spot in the quarter-finals, but the post-match narrative centered squarely on Ronaldo, the 41-year-old Portuguese icon who left the pitch in tears as his decades-long World Cup dream of lifting the trophy went unfulfilled. Long lauded as one of the greatest players to ever step onto a football pitch, Ronaldo retires from World Cup competition holding a host of unparalleled records: he is the only player to score in six consecutive World Cups, one of just two players to feature in six tournaments alongside long-time rival Lionel Messi, and he retires with 11 total World Cup goals, good for ninth on the all-time leaderboard.
Across his entire club and international career, Ronaldo has notched a world-record 976 goals, claimed five Ballon d’Or awards, five Champions League titles, and a European Championship crown with Portugal in 2016. Yet despite 20 years of World Cup appearances dating back to 2006, when Portugal reached the semi-finals – his deepest run in the competition – the sport’s biggest prize eluded him entirely.
While Ronaldo has confirmed this was his final World Cup, he has not yet confirmed his retirement from international football, telling reporters post-match that he would “meet the family and take decisions with a calm head” on his future with the national side. Still, the loss sparked immediate and fierce debate over whether Portugal manager Roberto Martinez’s decision to consistently start Ronaldo, despite the forward’s reduced form and output, ultimately cost the team a deeper run in the tournament.
Match statistics underscore the critiques of Ronaldo’s role in the side: against Spain, he touched the ball just 19 times across 90 minutes, registered three shots, created only one goal-scoring chance for a teammate, and across five World Cup matches, he created just one total chance. While he ended the tournament with three goals and 18 total shots – tied with seven-goal joint-top scorer Erling Haaland for the fourth-most attempts at the tournament – 366 other players recorded more touches than Ronaldo, despite him missing just nine minutes of Portugal’s entire campaign.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live from the match venue in Texas, former England striker and BBC pundit Chris Sutton did not mince words in his criticism of both Ronaldo and Martinez. “He’s waddling around the field like a grandad, that’s why Portugal are out,” Sutton said. “Cristiano Ronaldo does nothing; he did nothing. What is Roberto Martinez doing? How can you pander to a player so much? Portugal are out because of Roberto Martinez.”
Sutton doubled down on his criticism of Martinez for failing to insert young in-form striker Goncalo Ramos, who scored a hat-trick in the 2022 World Cup round of 16 after then-manager Fernando Santos dropped Ronaldo to the bench. “How did Goncalo Ramos not get on the pitch? It’s an absolute embarrassment from the manager, just pandering to his star player,” Sutton said. “He’s the most decorated player that Portugal have ever had but you’ve got to be stronger than that. We’re four years further on, Ronaldo is four years older and look what’s happened.”
Sutton also noted that Martinez, who previously mismanaged a highly talented Belgian golden generation that crashed out of the 2022 World Cup in the group stage, repeated the same mistake with Portugal, which boasts a deep squad of elite talent including four Champions League-winning players from Paris Saint-Germain and Premier League player of the year Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United. “His job was to try and win the World Cup and put the best team out for Portugal. Has he done that? Absolutely not,” Sutton said. “It’s scandalous the way he has managed this team. He made a mess of Belgium when they had an opportunity of really doing great things with that golden generation; they ended up Belgian buffoons. Now Portugal, it was pathetic to see a manager act in that manner.”
Shortly after the final whistle, Martinez announced he would step down as Portugal manager, ending his contract which expired after the tournament. “I came to Portugal with the objective of winning the World Cup and because I haven’t won it wouldn’t make sense to continue,” he explained. The departing manager offered a glowing tribute to Ronaldo, calling him a “football icon” and defending his choice to keep the star in the starting lineup. “When you need a goal you cannot take Cristiano off, at least in 90 minutes, he is physically capable – his presence, open space, dead-ball situations, we need his experience,” Martinez said. “We need to thank him for what he tried to do at this World Cup. His dream was to win this World Cup, he did this with an amazing example. He is a prime example of football and the human being that is behind that athlete.”
The end of Ronaldo’s World Cup journey also closes a defining chapter in modern football fandom: the decades-long rivalry between Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. For generations, fans have divided into camps aligned with one player or the other in the endless debate over who deserves the title of the greatest of all time, a rivalry explored in a new BBC iPlayer documentary released this summer. While neither player had won the World Cup through 2022, Messi claimed the trophy with Argentina in Qatar four years ago, eliminating the only major mark against his legacy. Now, Ronaldo will finish his career without ever lifting the prize.
Today, as both legends wind down their careers – Ronaldo plying his trade in Saudi Arabia’s Pro League with Al-Nassr and Messi playing in Major League Soccer with Inter Miami – Messi continues to outperform his old rival at the 2026 World Cup, currently sitting as joint-top scorer with seven goals, matching his 2022 output. Ronaldo has scored just four goals across his last two World Cup tournaments, and sits second to Messi on the all-time World Cup goalscoring list, with 11 to Messi’s 20.
Former Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney paid tribute to Ronaldo’s unprecedented career following the exit. “He is a genius, a superstar. What he has given to football and millions of people is something very rare,” Rooney said. “He will be disappointed because he believed he could win this tournament. But time gets us all. It’s a sad day for football.”
Many Portugal fans who spoke to the BBC after the match shared that same sense of emotion but chose to celebrate Ronaldo’s legacy rather than lament the defeat. “One of my dreams was to watch Ronaldo live. I was happy to see him. He has meant a lot,” one fan said. “I’m really emotional. We were just not lucky this time. What Ronaldo has done has been beautiful. We don’t have to cry, we have to laugh because we saw him.”
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Swiss breakout star Manzambi and 2 others leave training ahead of World Cup clash with Colombia
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – As Switzerland prepares for its must-win World Cup round of 16 matchup against Colombia on Tuesday, a sudden wave of training exits has thrown the European side’s preparations into last-minute uncertainty, with breakout tournament sensation Johan Manzambi among three key players who cut their Monday training session short. The Swiss national team confirmed that alongside Manzambi, starting midfielder Rubén Vargas and central midfielder Djibril Sow also left practice early, but offered no additional details on the nature of their issues or the severity of any possible injuries.
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World Cup 2026: Trump says he intervened to overturn red card in what has become a historic scandal
A firestorm of debate has swept through global football after FIFA’s stunning decision to overturn a red card for United States breakout star Folarin Balogun, a move that came just days after former US President Donald Trump personally pressured FIFA president Gianni Infantino to revisit the call.
The disciplinary action against Balogun stemmed from a round-of-32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the American forward was sent off with 30 minutes remaining after VAR upgraded a challenge on opponent Tarik Muharemovic to a straight red. While most observers agree the collision was accidental, the red card carried an automatic one-match suspension that would have forced Balogun to sit out the USMNT’s critical round-of-16 clash against Belgium on Monday. As the host nation for the remainder of the 2026 World Cup, and with Balogun one of the team’s standout talents, the Trump administration moved quickly to challenge the ruling.
Trump confirmed his intervention to reporters at the White House on Monday, arguing the challenge never rose to the level of a foul, let alone a sending-off. “That wasn’t even an infraction, that was two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other,” Trump said. He also questioned the integrity of Brazilian referee Rafael Claus, who issued the card, calling his record “very suspect” – remarks that have already sparked intense backlash against Claus on social media. Confirmation of the high-level lobbying campaign emerged earlier from Politico, which reported that Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House FIFA World Cup Task Force, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and senior US Soccer Federation officials spent four days coordinating the appeal.
In a move that shocked the global sports community, FIFA announced Sunday it was reversing the red card, replacing the suspension with a one-year probation. The governing body used Article 27 of its Disciplinary Code, a rarely used provision colloquially known as the “Cristiano Ronaldo Rule” after it was invoked to clear the Portuguese star for his 2026 World Cup opening matches last November. The decision has reignited longstanding criticism that FIFA has cultivated overly close ties to the US administration to protect the commercial success of the ongoing tournament, which the US is co-hosting.
Infantino pushed back against accusations of political interference in a statement released hours after Trump’s confirmation. “FIFA’s judicial bodies are independent. They operate autonomously,” he wrote, adding that he always respects the rulings handed down by FIFA’s disciplinary panels, regardless of whether he agrees with them. He also noted that regular conversations with heads of state regarding the World Cup are standard practice.
For Team USA, the reversal is a welcome outcome. Head coach Tim Ream told *Good Morning America* that Balogun has been overjoyed by the news, and is now eager to contribute on the pitch rather than sit on the sidelines. “He’s been beaming ear to ear since we all found out the news,” Ream said.
But the precedent set by FIFA’s ruling has triggered an immediate wave of demands for equal treatment from other qualified teams, with high-profile pushback from across global football. France has already appealed a yellow card received by star player Michael Olise during its round-of-16 match against Paraguay. England manager Thomas Tuchel joked at a recent press conference that he may ask Trump to help overturn a red card suspension for Jarell Quansah, adding: “Where does it start, and where does this end now?” Norway head coach Stale Solbakken, whose side knocked out three-time champion Brazil Sunday, called FIFA’s choice a “bad bad bad bad bad decision.”
Within minutes of FIFA’s Sunday announcement, Belgium – the US’s opponent in Monday’s knockout match – filed a formal challenge to Balogun’s eligibility. In a statement Monday, the Royal Belgian Football Association said it had yet to receive any formal explanation from FIFA, leaving it no option but to contest the ruling. “Regardless of the sporting outcome of this match, the RBFA is deeply saddened by the course of events and will continue to fight in the coming hours, days and months in defence of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition, and the interests of football as a whole,” the statement read.
Criticism has also come from veteran football leadership. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who has been banned from FIFA activities since 2015 amid a corruption scandal, weighed in on social media platform X Monday, writing: “Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies. If a US President intervenes with the FIFA President – and a player is suddenly cleared before a World Cup knockout match – the question is unavoidable: Quo vadis, FIFA?” European governing body UEFA went even further, saying the reversal “crossed a red line.” The organization noted that automatic one-match suspensions for red cards are non-discretionary: “In this case not,” the statement said. “A minimum automatic suspension of one match following a red card is not a discretionary option and does not require the decision of a competent body to be enacted.”
The controversy also carries a subtle political subtext: Balogun, a dual US-UK national born in New York and raised in London, qualifies for the US national team via birthright citizenship, a policy Trump has repeatedly tried and failed to overturn during his time in office.
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Miami Heat sign Antetokounmpo from Milwaukee Bucks
One of the NBA’s biggest superstars has shaken up the league’s Eastern Conference pecking order in a seismic offseason trade, as two-time league Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo has finalized a move from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Miami Heat. The multi-player deal sends Antetokounmpo and Bucks forward Bobby Portis to South Florida, with promising Miami youngsters Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and prospect Kasparas Jakucionis moving north to join the Bucks in return.
Drafted as a relatively unknown 18-year-old prospect by the Bucks back in 2013, Antetokounmpo spent the entirety of his 13-year professional career in Milwaukee, transforming the small-market franchise from a perennial afterthought into a title contender. He led the team to its first NBA championship in 50 years during the 2021 bubble postseason, cementing his legacy as one of the greatest players in Bucks franchise history. The Greek superstar’s departure, however, comes after months of growing tension between the 31-year-old and the team’s front office.
Antetokounmpo publicly criticized the Bucks’ management last season over their decision to rule him out of action after he suffered a left knee hyperextension, saying that he was ready and able to return to play but was sidelined against his wishes. After the Bucks missed the playoffs entirely in the 2025-26 campaign, the star doubled down on his frustration in an April interview, noting: “I feel like sometimes people just don’t listen. They listen to the sources. The main source is me. It is what it is.”
As rumors of Antetokounmpo’s uncertain future in Milwaukee began swirling earlier this offseason, the Eastern Conference rival Boston Celtics emerged as another top suitor for the star, but the Heat ultimately closed the deal to bring the future Hall of Famer to Miami. For the three-time championship franchise, the acquisition is being framed as one of the most transformative moves in team history. Heat president Pat Riley called the trade “one of the great trades” in franchise history, adding that the team has built its culture around pursuing elite championship-caliber talent.
The Antetokounmpo blockbuster is just one of multiple high-profile moves shaking up the Eastern Conference this offseason. The Philadelphia 76ers have also announced two major additions, confirming they have acquired star wing Jaylen Brown from the Celtics in a multi-piece trade, while also signing unrestricted free agent guard Anfernee Simons. In exchange for Brown, the 76ers sent veteran forward Paul George to Boston, along with two future first-round draft picks and two additional second-round selections, reshaping the rosters of two of the conference’s top contenders for next season.
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World Cup fans react to Balogun’s one-game ban suspension
A last-minute development has shaken up the United States men’s national team ahead of their critical World Cup matchup against Belgium, with star striker Folarin Balogun cleared to feature in today’s fixture after a dramatic intervention by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The young forward had originally been handed a one-game suspension that would have forced him to sit on the sidelines for the high-stakes encounter, a ruling that left American soccer fans bracing for a major disadvantage against their European opponents. However, the situation took an unexpected turn when Trump personally contacted the International Federation of Association Football (Fifa), soccer’s global governing body, to request a formal review of the disciplinary decision.
Following that outreach, Fifa opted to suspend the ban, clearing the way for Balogun to take the pitch. News of the reversal quickly spread across social media and fan communities, sparking a wide range of reactions from supporters across the globe. American fans in particular have expressed widespread relief, with many taking to social platforms to celebrate the outcome ahead of kickoff, while others have raised questions about the influence of political figures on international sports governing bodies. The sudden shift has already reshaped pre-match expectations, with analysts reworking their projections for today’s game after the last-minute inclusion of one of the USA’s most potent attacking threats.
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Why European backlash over Trump intervention won’t worry Infantino
The 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by the United States has been overshadowed by an unprecedented disciplinary decision that has sparked allegations of political interference, reignited long-simmering criticism of Gianni Infantino’s 10-year tenure as FIFA president, and thrown the governing body’s commitment to its own rules into question.
The controversy centers on Folarin Balogun, the United States men’s national team star who has netted three goals to carry the co-hosts into the Round of 16 against Belgium. After receiving a red card in the team’s final group stage match against Bosnia-Herzegovina, standard FIFA tournament regulations explicitly prohibit appeals against straight red card suspensions, which would have ruled Balogun out of the decisive knockout tie. In a move never before seen in World Cup history, FIFA opted to overturn the suspension, clearing the star striker to play.
More than 24 hours after the decision was finalized, FIFA released an 871-word statement that offered no clear explanation for the extraordinary reversal. The missing context was quickly filled by one of the most powerful figures in global politics: U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed publicly that he personally intervened with Infantino to push for a review of the suspension. “I’m the one that got them to do it,” Trump stated, though he pushed back against claims he directly ordered Infantino to scrap the ban, saying he only requested a formal review.
The revelation of presidential intervention has sent shockwaves through the global football community. In the U.S., public debate has framed the ruling as a correction of an unfair outcome, arguing that Balogun’s ejection from the group stage match already served as sufficient punishment – a view Trump explicitly echoed. But across the sport, critics warn the decision sets a dangerous precedent that undermines the core integrity of football governance. Infantino has repeatedly rejected claims of political meddling, insisting FIFA’s independent disciplinary committee made the final call without outside pressure. Yet the appearance of favoritism is unavoidable: the ruling benefits the tournament co-host, led by a sitting president who has publicly described Infantino as a close personal friend. For many observers, the overturned suspension felt indistinguishable from a political pardon, not a neutral disciplinary ruling.
Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp summed up the widespread anger: “If Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino really sorted this out between themselves, it is madness; it calls everything into question.” Sepp Blatter, Infantino’s disgraced predecessor who was forced to resign in 2016 amid a sweeping corruption scandal, even took the unusual step of condemning the move, writing on social media: “Football must never become a playground for political power.”
UEFA, European football’s governing body, has issued an official rebuke calling the decision “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable” and accusing FIFA of having “crossed a red line” – the latest flashpoint in a growing rift between the two bodies. Friction between UEFA and Infantino dates back years: in May 2025, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin led a walkout of European delegates at the FIFA Congress after Infantino arrived more than two hours late following a diplomatic tour of the Middle East alongside Trump. The European body has also openly criticized FIFA’s inflated World Cup ticket prices, contrasting them with the much lower pricing planned for Euro 2028, and recently highlighted its support for Somali referee Omar Artan – who was denied entry to the U.S. for the tournament by American immigration officials – by inviting him to officiate the 2026 UEFA Super Cup. When asked about Artan’s situation earlier this year, Infantino drew widespread condemnation for his dismissive response, telling reporters to “chill, relax.”
The Balogun controversy is far from an isolated incident during Infantino’s tenure, which has grown increasingly polarizing since he took office in 2016. Critics have pointed to a long string of contentious decisions: the creation of the FIFA Peace Prize, which was awarded to Trump during the World Cup draw, has sparked accusations that Infantino violated FIFA’s rules on political neutrality. Human rights campaign group FairSquare filed an ethics complaint over the award last December, and when no action was taken, 50 Members of the European Parliament submitted a second open letter demanding an investigation – a request that has also gone unanswered. FIFA has been criticized for the controversial 2030 and 2034 World Cup hosting allocation, which handed the 2034 tournament to Saudi Arabia without competitive bidding following a decision to split the 2030 edition across three continents, drawing criticism over the kingdom’s well-documented human rights concerns. Even the expanded Club World Cup, a flagship Infantino initiative, has been condemned by global player union FIFPRO as being created “without dialogue, sensitivity, and respect” for athlete welfare. The recent last-minute fiasco over a planned kick-off time change for the England-Mexico Round of 16 tie, which saw FIFA reverse course after five hours of confusion while pretending the initial change never happened, has further underscored claims of a lack of transparency and organizational competence within FIFA.
For many, the Balogun decision feels like the latest in a pattern of unaccountable decision-making that has eroded trust in FIFA’s leadership. With Infantino up for re-election next year, many have wondered if this latest controversy could finally threaten his grip on the presidency. But a closer look at the political math within FIFA makes an upset extremely unlikely.
Infantino’s support base stems from his signature FIFA Forward programme, which directs billions in funding to football development projects in smaller and lower-income member associations, and the expanded 48-team World Cup format that added 16 new qualification spots – 13 of which went to confederations outside of Europe’s wealthy football ecosystem. While the expanded format has drawn criticism, it has given long-underrepresented nations such as Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan their first-ever shots at World Cup qualification, turning Infantino into a popular figure among the vast majority of FIFA’s 211 member associations, each of which holds one vote in presidential elections.
To win re-election, a candidate needs 106 votes. Already, the 10 member nations of CONMEBOL (South America) have pledged their full support. The 54 members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) have followed with a unanimous endorsement, and the 47 members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have also backed Infantino. Combined, those pledges add up to 111 votes – enough to secure re-election even before counting support from other confederations.
UEFA, which represents European football, may be openly opposed to Infantino’s leadership, but European football is financially self-sustaining, while most of the rest of the global game depends on the revenue FIFA generates from tournaments like the World Cup – revenue that funds the development projects that have cemented Infantino’s support. Even with the firestorm over the Balogun decision, Infantino’s path to a fourth term as FIFA president remains unobstructed, leaving critics to question what the controversy means for the future of football governance.
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A stoic Cristiano Ronaldo exits last World Cup with ‘clear conscience’ after Portugal loses to Spain
ARLINGTON, Texas — For soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo, the final chapter of his unprecedented World Cup journey ended not with celebration, but quiet stoicism Monday. The 41-year-old Portuguese icon walked off the field following his team’s 1-0 round-of-16 defeat to neighboring rival Spain, offering only a brief wave to the cheering crowd and barely showing the emotion he later acknowledged feeling.
After the final whistle, Ronaldo briefly raised his right hand to shield his eyes, opening up about his disappointment. “Sad — it’s normal after being eliminated like this,” he told reporters. This tournament marked the sixth and final World Cup appearance of Ronaldo’s storied career, a milestone no other men’s player has reached in modern tournament history.
Reflecting on his decades of contributions to Portugal’s national side, Ronaldo made clear he had no regrets about his effort on the sport’s biggest global stage. “I’ve given everything, I’ve given my best, and I leave with a clear conscience,” he said. “This is soccer, this is life for a soccer player. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.”
Ahead of the knockout clash with Spain, Ronaldo had shared he hoped to extend his tournament run and savor every remaining moment. Even before the match, however, he confirmed what he repeated after the loss: this four-year cycle tournament would be his last. Throughout his World Cup career, the furthest Ronaldo ever led Portugal was a semifinal finish during his tournament debut in 2006, a result that remains the country’s deepest World Cup run to date.
The match itself held a near-miss that could have shifted the momentum for Portugal. In the first half, Ronaldo had a potential goal stopped by an extraordinary leaping save from Spain’s record-setting goalkeeper Unai Simón. The chance came after teammate João Félix’s header bounced off Simón’s shoulder, leaving Ronaldo to launch a right-footed backward strike. Simón, still airborne, managed to reach back and secure the ball with both hands — one of three shots Ronaldo took, two of which landed on target.
As for what comes next in his legendary career, Ronaldo said he would not rush into any decisions. “Yes, it was my last World Cup, but everything else I’ll have time to think about, to be with my family, and not make any decision hot-headed and move on with life,” he explained.
Portugal’s head coach Roberto Martínez was quick to praise Ronaldo’s unparalleled legacy and leadership, framing the forward as a generational talent that deserves global celebration. “He is an example, a role model to follow. This is somebody that we need to celebrate. We’re talking about a football icon,” Martínez said in translated comments. “There aren’t too many Cristiano Ronaldos out there. I think we need to thank him. His dream was to win the World Cup and he did this as an amazing example in the locker room.”
Under Ronaldo’s leadership, Portugal has claimed its first-ever major international titles: the 2016 UEFA European Championship, followed by UEFA Nations League trophies in 2019 and 2025. He leaves the World Cup holding a string of unprecedented records: he is the only player to score in five consecutive World Cups, and sits as the all-time leading goalscorer in men’s international soccer with 146 career goals across national team matches. He notched three goals in this 2026 tournament, bringing his total career World Cup goals to 11 — a mark that ties him for ninth on the all-time leaderboard.
Monday’s exit bookended a historic World Cup rivalry with Spain that began eight years ago, when 33-year-old Ronaldo scored a stunning group-stage hat trick to secure a 3-3 draw against the Spanish side, a match still widely regarded as one of the greatest in World Cup history. That performance made him the oldest player to record a World Cup hat trick, a record that stood until 38-year-old Lionel Messi scored three for Argentina in a June 2026 group-stage win over Algeria.
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Spain sets World Cup record with 6th clean sheet in a row and keeper Simón extends scoreless mark
ARLINGTON, Texas — The 2026 FIFA World Cup delivered another chapter of historic soccer achievement on Monday, as Spain cemented its place in international tournament record books with a sixth straight clean sheet and a tense 1-0 knockout-stage victory over Portugal. This milestone broke a three-way tie that had stood for decades, with Spain moving ahead of Italy’s 1990 side and Switzerland’s 2006-2010 squad for the longest consecutive run of World Cup matches without conceding a single goal.
Spain’s defensive streak first began back in the 2022 Qatar World Cup, when the squad held Morocco scoreless through 120 minutes of regulation and extra time in a round-of-16 clash, ending in a goalless draw before Morocco advanced via penalty shootout. When Spain kicked off its 2026 group stage campaign, the team earned an unexpected 0-0 draw against underdog Cape Verde, a result that would kick off a dominant run of defensive form: four straight shutout victories that carried La Roja through to the tournament’s quarterfinals.
Leading the historic defensive charge is starting goalkeeper Unai Simón, who stretched his personal record of consecutive scoreless minutes to an incredible 609 minutes – a mark that far outpaces the previous 517-minute record set by Italian legend Walter Zenga, who set the original benchmark during Italy’s 1990 home World Cup run with five straight clean sheets. Simón first surpassed Zenga’s record earlier last week, during Spain’s 3-0 knockout-stage opening win over Austria, a match where the Austrian side failed to register a single shot on target.Simón’s shutout streak actually traces back to the final group stage match of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, a 2-1 loss to Japan where the keeper’s scoreless run began after conceding the second goal of the match. Entering Monday’s high-stakes clash with Portugal, Simón had only needed to make four total saves across the entire 2026 tournament, but the star keeper was called into action twice in the first half by Portuguese icon Cristiano Ronaldo – both stops preserving Spain’s clean sheet and historic streak.
The second of those two saves will go down as one of the most memorable highlights of the tournament: a spectacular diving stop where Simón, still airborne after launching himself to intercept the shot, reached back to secure the ball with both hands. The opportunity came after Portuguese defender Jose Sa’s header deflected off the shoulder of the 29-year-old Athletic Bilbao shot-stopper, leaving Ronaldo with an open look at goal that Simón somehow turned away.The late 1-0 winning goal from Mikel Merino not only sent Spain through to the World Cup quarterfinals, but also brought an end to Ronaldo’s unprecedented run of six consecutive World Cup appearances spanning from his 2006 debut, closing the book on one of the most legendary international careers in soccer history.
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Mbappé condemns Paraguayan senator over racist remarks after World Cup match
In the wake of a controversial 2026 World Cup round of 16 match that saw France defeat Paraguay to secure a spot in the quarterfinals, a firestorm of global condemnation has erupted after a sitting Paraguayan senator made virulently racist comments targeting French captain Kylian Mbappé. Mbappé hit back at the lawmaker on Monday, delivering a scathing public rebuke that has drawn widespread international attention.
Celeste Amarilla, a senator representing Paraguay’s Liberal Radical Party, launched the racist attack on social media platform X shortly after Mbappé converted a match-winning penalty to secure France’s 1-0 win over Paraguay on Saturday. Her comments mocked the 25-year-old’s racial origins, childhood upbringing, educational background and physical appearance, in a post that quickly spread across global social media.
Mbappé did not stay silent in the face of the attack, posting a blunt response on his own X account that has been shared more than a million times as of Monday evening. He labeled Amarilla a “despicable woman” unfit to hold a seat in Paraguay’s national congress, noting that her reckless, openly bigoted comments had already overshadowed the historic World Cup run that the Paraguayan national team put together in this tournament.
“Through your recklessness and your brazen racism, the entire world has already forgotten the journey and the historic effort that your players accomplished during this World Cup,” Mbappé wrote.
Officials from both Paraguay and France have lined up to condemn Amarilla’s remarks, separating her views from official national positions. By mid-Monday, the Paraguayan government released an official statement disavowing the senator’s comments, saying they directly contradict the core values of peaceful coexistence and respect for human dignity that the South American nation officially upholds. The statement emphasized that Amarilla’s words do not represent the views of either the Paraguayan government or the Paraguayan people.
France’s top governing body for football, the French Football Federation (FFF), also issued a formal denunciation, calling Amarilla’s comments “utterly abhorrent” and “unacceptable.” The organization confirmed it would be referring the incident to French prosecutors for formal review. FFF president Philippe Diallo also extended condemnation to a second incident of anti-French racist rhetoric from former Paraguayan football star José Luis Chilavert, who referred to the entire French national squad as “a squad from Africa” ahead of Saturday’s match. Diallo noted that Chilavert, once a widely respected top goalkeeper, had now “fallen into disgrace” for his bigoted comments.
Marina Ferrari, France’s sports minister, also publicly expressed outrage over the incident, voicing unwavering support for Mbappé and the French national team. “By targeting Kylian Mbappé, the senator is attacking everything our captain embodies and everything our country stands for: liberty, equality and fraternity,” Ferrari wrote on X.
France’s assistant national team coach Guy Stéphan also added his voice to the chorus of condemnation on Monday, summing up the widespread reaction in three sharp words: “In three words, it’s indignant, abject, scandalous.”
As of Monday evening, The Associated Press has reached out to Amarilla via her social media channels to request a response to the widespread condemnation, but has not yet received a reply. France is set to continue its World Cup campaign this Thursday, when it will face Morocco in the tournament’s quarterfinal round.