Cristiano Ronaldo after Portugal’s defeat against France in Euro 2024.© AFP

Former England forward and Arsenal great Ian Wright believes that Portugal’s iconic forward Cristiano Ronaldo is no longer “cut” to play at the top level. Ronaldo and Portugal’s campaign in the Euro 2024 ended after France handed them a defeat in penalties in the quarter-final. After his prolific season with Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, goals were expected from the Portuguese goal-scoring machine. However, for the first time in his illustrious career, Ronaldo failed to score a single goal in a major competition.

After Portugal crashed out of the tournament, speculation has been building around the future of Ronaldo at the international level.

Wright believes that with the way Ronaldo performed throughout the tournament, his compatriot Diogo Jota would be disappointed about not getting enough opportunity to not get time on the pitch.

“Portugal should be very disappointed about that [going out of EURO 2024] simply because of how good their team is – when you look at them from defence to attack. The way he [Cristiano Ronaldo] played in EURO 2024, as great as he’s been, surely Diogo Jota must be disappointed that he couldn’t get on that pitch,” Wright said on Sky Sports’ Stick to Football: The Overlap Special as quoted from Goal.com.

“What I saw of him [Cristiano Ronaldo], he can’t cut it at this level now. As good as he is, as fit as he is, as driven as he is, you can see he just can’t quite get it out of his feet to get a shot in, the movement with a header, he can’t get past a defender now,” he added.

Ronaldo’s teammate during his time at Manchester United, Roy Keane, believes that the seasoned striker should take a break from international football and assess his situation when World Cup 2026 is around the corner.

“He [Cristiano Ronaldo] should have a break and step back from international football, and if he’s still playing at club level, then have a look at the World Cup when it comes around. We look at [Harry] Kane when Kane’s quite off it, and your main goal scorers not at it, you’re playing with ten men. When you’re playing at the highest level, you really can’t carry anybody. His [Cristiano Ronaldo] movement is still there – against France, brilliant,” Keane noted.

Cristiano Ronaldo after Portugal were knocked out of Euro 2024 by France.© AFP

Have football fans seen the last of Cristiano Ronaldo in the Portugal shirt? The team’s departure from Euro 2024 at the quarter-final stage has had many wondering if Ronaldo would hang up his boots at the international stage after the tournament. Ronaldo didn’t look at his best the entire tournament and even failed to register a single goal or assist before the team’s exit. However, a report has claimed that Ronaldo isn’t willing to quit international football just yet. In fact, he is determined to play in the 2026 FIFA World Cup and bring the trophy home.

Ronaldo had an insipid Euro 2024 campaign that saw him contribute little to the team’s goals. Portugal reached the quarter-finals of the tournament, thanks to their goalkeeper Diogo Costa’s heroics in the penalty shootout after Ronaldo missed a penalty, putting the team in danger of elimination.

Even the quarter-final clash against France saw the team struggle in front of goal, forcing the match into another penalty shootout where Les Bleus emerged triumphant.

But, as per a report in Relevo, it isn’t all over for Ronaldo just yet. As per the publication, Ronaldo has his eyes on the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In fact, he also wants to become the first player in history to appear and score in six editions of the flagship competition.

Ronaldo came into the Euro 2024 on the back of a prolific season for Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr, scoring 50 goals in all competitions but his gameplay couldn’t assist Portugal in front of the goal.

After Portugal’s quarter-final win against Slovenia, Ronaldo did admit that this would be his last European Championship.

“Initial sadness and joy at the end, that’s what football gives you. These are inexplicable moments. I had the chance to put the national team ahead and I didn’t manage it. Oblak made a good save. I had to review the penalty, I don’t know if I shot well or badly, but during the year I didn’t miss a single time and when I needed it most, Oblak saved it. The most important thing is to enjoy qualifying, the team did an extraordinary job, we fought until the end and if you analyse the match well, Portugal deserved it because they had more chances,” he said.

A clear indication from the iconic footballer on his international future, however, is yet to come.

Portugal vs France, UEFA Euro 2024 Quarterfinal LIVE Updates© AFP

Portugal vs France Live Streaming Euro 2024 Quarter Final Live Telecast: When And Where To Watch© AFP

Hosts Germany take on Spain in the first of two blockbuster quarter-final ties at Euro 2024 on Friday, with Kylian Mbappe‘s France up against Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Portugal in the late match. Germany and Spain clash in Stuttgart at 1600 GMT with the host nation putting their hopes on the line against probably the best-performing side at the tournament thus far. Spain, with the thrilling duo of Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams on the wings, have reached the quarter-finals with four wins in as many games, nine goals scored and just one conceded.

Germany, meanwhile, have also impressed on their run to the last eight, with Jamal Musiala outstanding in attack and Toni Kroos pulling the strings in midfield as he prepares to retire after the competition.

The match, a repeat of the Euro 2008 final won 1-0 by Spain in Vienna, therefore promises to be a thriller.

“My focus is less on Yamal, more on Jamal,” Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said Thursday as he compared the two opposing stars and indicated that his team planned to take the game to the Spanish. 

“We can do something in attack ourselves. We want to attack and make life difficult for them.”

The match would have been a fitting final given both teams’ current form and their historical standing — the nations are the most successful in the history of the European Championship with three titles each.

They also met in the group stage at the 2022 World Cup, playing out a 1-1 draw that contributed to Germany being eliminated in the first round.

“Three wins away from immortality” was the headline in Thursday’s edition of Kicker, the popular German football magazine, yet the host nation’s dream of winning the trophy in Berlin on July 14 could also end here.

Spain have perhaps the world’s best holding midfield player in Rodri, but their coach, Luis de la Fuente, admitted they are wary of the brilliance of Kroos.

“We thought about tying Kroos’s feet together, but I’m not sure if UEFA will let me,” he joked. 

“We know how Kroos behaves. We will try and make sure he doesn’t have the chance to receive the ball and will limit his passing options.”

The winners of that match will advance to a semi-final against either France or Portugal, who go head-to-head in Hamburg at 1900 GMT.

It is another heavyweight clash between two much-fancied sides, as well as a repeat of the Euro 2016 final, when Portugal beat France 1-0 in extra time in Paris.

France have reached a sixth quarter-final in the last seven major tournaments despite not one of their players scoring in open play.

Mbappe meets idol Ronaldo

Les Bleus have netted only three times in four games, with one a penalty by Mbappe and the other two coming from own goals, including Jan Vertonghen‘s which allowed them to beat Belgium in the last 16.

Mbappe has been hindered by a broken nose, which saw him miss one group game before returning to action while wearing a protective face mask. He also suggested on Thursday that he is not currently fully fit.

“I don’t think I’m fully fit. It’s not an excuse, but I think to be really at 100 percent, explosive and fast, I need a proper pre-season with my club,” he said.

Mbappe, who recently signed for Real Madrid, will come up against his boyhood idol in Ronaldo, the Portugal captain who is now 39.

“It is an honour. Everyone knows how much I have always admired Cristiano,” Mbappe, 25, said.

“Whatever has happened before or will happen after, he will remain a legend in the game, but of course, we hope to win tomorrow and get through to the semi-final.”

Ronaldo is enduring a difficult tournament, failing to find the net and ending up in tears after missing a penalty in the last-16 tie against Slovenia from which Portugal squeezed through on penalties.

Portugal coach Roberto Martinez, meanwhile, insisted the focus cannot solely be on the two opposing superstars.

“Football is a team sport. Tomorrow is not a match between two individuals. They are two incredible players who have a big influence on the game worldwide, and that influence will continue, but tomorrow we will need a real top-level team performance if we are to win,” Martinez said.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been Portugal’s main man for nearly two decades but the veteran forward is a long way from peak performance before Friday’s Euro 2024 quarter-final showdown with France. Now 39 years old and playing his club football in Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo is showing his age in what must surely be his last major international tournament. Ronaldo’s goalscoring prowess has been the hallmark of an incredible career in which for years he vied with Lionel Messi for the crown of the world’s best player.

But he has failed to score a single goal in Germany and has not really looked like doing so in a series of displays which have added little to his country’s attacking output.

Coach Roberto Martinez has started Ronaldo in all four of Portugal’s matches in which he has set up a goal for Bruno Fernandes and done little else.

Ronaldo even put Portugal’s chances of qualifying for the last eight in jeopardy when he missed a penalty against Slovenia on Monday as the match finished goalless and went to a shootout.

Martinez said Ronaldo “paved the way” for Portugal’s eventual victory which set up Friday’s match with Les Bleus by smashing in the first spot-kick.

“It was a victory for unity, from the dressing room,” said Martinez. 

“Cristiano is our captain and he showed that in life and in football there are difficult moments and we can’t give up.

“We have to keep going and it was a demonstration of what to do when things aren’t going well.”

But regardless of the courage Ronaldo showed to take the first penalty so soon after missing, it has been clear for a long time he is no longer the magnificent player he once was.

Ronaldo had burst into tears after failing to score in extra-time, and, overcome with emotion, apologised to fans after netting in the shootout.

“First it was sadness and then it was joy, that’s what football gives you, inexplicable moments, a bit of everything,” Ronaldo said.

“I didn’t make a single mistake this year and when I needed something the most, Jan Oblak saved it.”

Ronaldo and Portugal will have to perform much better than they did against Slovenia if they are to get past an excellent French defence.

France’s backline excelled in keeping Romelu Lukaku and Jeremy Doku quiet in their tight 1-0 over Belgium in the last 16, and is yet to concede a goal in open play in Germany.

Ronaldo has scored more European Championship goals than anyone else with 14, is the tournament’s record appearance maker and is the only man to score in five straight Euros.

But he record-making days will be over if he is unable to find a way to click with his teammates, and Friday risks being a sad Euros farewell.

Kylian Mbappe leads France into Friday’s Euro 2024 quarter-final against Portugal having yet to find his best form at the tournament after months of speculation about his club future and then the broken nose which overshadowed his team’s opening game. The 25-year-old will again sport a protective face mask on Friday in Hamburg, a necessity following the injury he suffered in the 1-0 win against Austria on June 17. Mbappe admitted prior to Monday’s last-16 victory against Belgium that he hates having to wear the mask and that it makes him feel like he is watching the tournament with virtual reality goggles on, rather than being an active participant.

Yet he is the leader of a France team that has reached the quarter-finals despite scoring only three goals in four matches, one his penalty in a 1-1 draw with Poland and the other two coming from own goals.

He and his team have had chances, but have not been taking them.

France have an Expected Goals (XG; a metric used to measure the quality of a chance created) of almost seven, bettered only by Spain, Portugal and Germany.

Mbappe’s own XG is 2.54, with only Cristiano Ronaldo and Germany’s Kai Havertz having a higher number.

It is a source of frustration for Mbappe that he has lit up the last two World Cups but has not enjoyed the same success at the Euros.

He starred as France became world champions in Russia in 2018 and again in Qatar in 2022, when he netted a hat-trick in their final defeat against Argentina.

The new Real Madrid signing has 12 World Cup goals, but his penalty against Poland is his only goal in seven appearances at the Euros.

Three years ago he failed to find the net before missing the crucial penalty in the shoot-out defeat by Switzerland in the last 16.

“My Euros didn’t start like I wanted but I am here to help the team and I really want to have success with this team,” Mbappe said just before the 1-0 victory against Belgium.

“The Euros is the only thing I have not won with the national team so I really want to win it.”

France assistant coach Guy Stephan said on Wednesday that Mbappe had been “traumatised” by the collision with Austria’s Kevin Danso which left him with the broken nose.

Ronaldo his boyhood hero

The fact that his final season at Paris Saint-Germain was often difficult may not have helped either.

He scored 44 goals, but Mbappe was also frozen out of the squad at the start of the campaign after telling the club he did not plan to extend his contract beyond this year.

His playing time was again reduced in the final three months of the season, once he had confirmed to PSG that he would be leaving.

Sources recently told AFP that Mbappe is still trying to get PSG to pay significant sums of money owed to him in wages.

Yet France will hope Mbappe finds extra motivation against Portugal as he comes up against his boyhood hero.

The recent completion of Mbappe’s move to Madrid put an end to years of speculation about when he would sign for the Spanish giants, and his long-held desire to one day join them was in part down to Ronaldo.

He idolised Ronaldo growing up, and decorated his bedroom with posters of the Portuguese superstar.

Real attempted to sign Mbappe for the first time in December 2012, when he was approaching his 14th birthday.

He was invited to Madrid for a week, taken to a game and to the club’s Valdebebas training ground where he met Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo.

There is a famous picture of Ronaldo with his arm around the youngster, who only comes up to his hero’s shoulder.

“He is a hero from my childhood and it was amazing to meet him when I visited Valdebebas,” he once told Spanish sports daily Marca.

Now Mbappe is about to become the star in Madrid, where five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo was the main man for almost a decade. 

But first he knows that in order to keep alive his own dream of winning the European Championship with France he will need to knock out Portugal, and in the process potentially bring an end to Ronaldo’s remarkable international career.

The UEFA Euro 2024 quarter-finals are set, and we have a bunch of blockbuster games coming up. One side of the quarter-final draw is stacked with reputed heavyweights, while a couple of underdogs have also slipped in to the Top 8 and could yet go much further. The five hot favourites ahead of Euro 2024 – France, England, Portugal, Spain and hosts Germany – are still in the race for glory. The Netherlands made it through after a convincing Round of 16 victory, while Switzerland and Turkey should not be counted out based on form.

The first quarter-final game, on July 5, is arguably the game of the tournament so far. Germany and Spain have been arguably the two best teams of Euro 2024 – and the two highest-scoring nations – but one journey will end here.

But speaking of the potential game of the tournament, and the second quarter-final – Portugal vs France – may have something to say about it. The two nations played out an enthralling 2-2 draw in Euro 2020, but have underwhelmed so far with their brand of football. Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe are also yet to take the tournament by storm.

Switzerland are proving to be the giant-killers this summer. After nearly beating Germany, they dispatched defending champions Italy with ease in the Round of 16. Now, they face England, who have had to rely on Jude Bellingham‘s heroics amid some unconvincing displays.

Finally, Netherlands face Turkey in the last bout of the quarters. Turkey dumped out a strong Austria, while Netherlands won 3-0 against Romania.

Euro 2024 Quarter Final Draw in full:

1. Spain vs Germany – Friday, July 5 – Stuttgart Arena, Stuttgart (9:30 PM IST)

2. Portugal vs France – Saturday, July 6 – Volksparkstadion, Hamburg (12:30 AM IST)

3. England vs Switzerland – Saturday, July 6 – Merkur Spiel-Arena, Dusseldorf (9:30 PM IST)

4. Netherlands vs Turkey – Sunday, July 7 – Olympiastadion, Berlin (12:30 AM IST)

The winner of Spain-Germany faces the winner of Portugal-France in the semis, while the winner of England-Switzerland faces the winner of Netherlands-Turkey.