Cristiano Ronaldo’s final shot at the ultimate prize

Cristiano Ronaldo is a player who needs very little introduction. He is one of the stars of the game, a global celebrity, who continues to defy Father Time to make his sixth World Cup.

In his career, he evolved from a tricky winger into the most dominant scorer in the game, and he’ll have one more chance to change the game for Portugal in search of their first crown.

Ronaldo emerged in an era when wingers were already becoming more wide forwards. At Manchester United, he became an essential player in the attack, starting as a traditional winger whose skillset forced Sir Alex Ferguson to accommodate a player who could do much more than dribble and create. He was given positional freedom from the right wing, eventually operating almost as a striker and scored 91 of his 118 goals for United in his final three seasons.

Then he took it to a new level at Real Madrid. He switched permanently to the left wing, and took full advantage of the freedom to move across the attack as pieces fell in around him.

The wide forward became the norm in football, and the position arguably overtook the traditional center forward as the primary source of goals. Players like Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Raheem Sterling emerged as goal threats in the Premier League, while players like Son Heung-min and Marcus Rashford operated as hybrid forwards who played both centrally and in preferred wide roles.

Where none of his followers could match, however, was in sheer production.

Ronaldo went eight straight seasons scoring at least 40 goals per year, with two campaigns of 60 and 61 goals respectively. Only Lionel Messi matches in that regard.

The production is such that even Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland only scratch the surface of what those two achieved.

The athleticism and swift attacking play Ronaldo brought from the left was complemented beautifully by overlapping play at left back and excellent attacking partnerships. The team played in way that favored Ronaldo, but everyone ate at Real Madrid. Karim Benzema remained a premier striker for a decade and the midfield trio of Luka Modric, Casemiro and Toni Kroos offered a perfect balance for multiple Champions League title campaigns.

For over a decade, Ronaldo was one of two nuclear options in football, someone who simply had to be accounted for at all times, yet simply could not be stopped.

That first began to change when Ronaldo moved to Juventus, and then an ill-fated return to Manchester United.

As he aged, he became a striker rather than a wide forward. Though he still operated with freedom to move about up front, his ability to propel a team into the stratosphere was fading.

But he still scored goals galore.

From 2018 to present, there have only been three seasons in which Ronaldo did not score 30 or more goals. In that time, he also took his career tally for club and country to 973 goals.

While Portugal may be a dark horse candidate, their status as a contender at this World Cup is boosted by oddsmakers and FIFA rankings. They’re currently the sixth-highest odds according to Fox and rank fifth in the FIFA rankings. The team has two losses since 2025, a Nations League match against Denmark and a 2-0 loss to Ireland in World Cup Qualification.

Ronaldo’s contributions were already fading at the last World Cup, where he was benched for the team’s best performance of the tournament before returning in a quarterfinal loss to Morocco.

Ronaldo is still a prolific goalscorer in Saudi Arabia and for the national team, but his very best days are far behind him. Still, he remains central to the team’s plans and will no doubt play a part whether the team fades or lives up to expectations.