HOUSTON — Cristiano Ronaldo delivered a pretty forgettable performance in the first match of his sixth World Cup .
Read more College sports bill clears key Senate hurdle despite SEC, Big Ten opposition
After Lionel Messi , Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland all scored in their opening matches, the 41-year-old Ronaldo couldn’t find the net Wednesday in Portugal’s 1-1 draw with Congo .
With players like Vinícius Júnior , Viktor Gyökeres and Harry Kane also all scoring early in this year’s World Cup, Ronaldo being held scoreless stands out even more.
However, the Portugal great did join Messi as the only players to appear in six World Cups. But a day after the Argentina captain had a hat trick , Ronaldo missed a few chances to become the first player to score in a sixth tournament.
His shots in the 68th and 73rd minutes went wide right, and he didn’t look happy after either of them.
Ronaldo didn’t speak to reporters after the game but he posted about the match on X .
“It wasn’t the start we wanted, but this is far from over,” he wrote. “Head up and focus on the next game.”
Portugal coach Roberto Martínez was asked if he considered taking out Ronaldo on Wednesday.
“It makes no sense to get the best world scorer to be out when you need goals,” Martínez said. “The experience of Cristiano in the box is important. The way that he attracts defenders is important.”
Read more He grew up in Alabama football country. Now he’s anchoring the U.S. at the World Cup.
Congo midfielder Ngal’ayel Mukau, who is 20 years younger than Ronaldo, addressed the challenge of facing one of the greatest to ever play the game.
“We know that Ronaldo isn’t the same as before,” Mukau said. “So we know that he runs less, less efforts. So yeah, it was up to our defense to stop him, and they did a great job.”
Wednesday’s game was the 229th of Ronaldo’s international career, the most for a man in history. He won the European Championship with Portugal in 2016, but his best finish at the World Cup came in his first tournament in 2006 when his team reached the semifinals.
Martínez was asked if Ronaldo will start Portugal’s upcoming matches against Uzbekistan and Colombia considering his age.
“We treat every player in the same way. We take it step by step,” Martínez said. “We’ll assess every player. It’s not a special issue. We don’t treat Cristiano with age … we treat him how he feels.”
Ronaldo did, however, become the oldest outfield player to start a World Cup match, taking the record set four years ago by Canada midfielder Atiba Hutchinson. Cameroon great Roger Milla is the oldest outfield player to appear in a World Cup match, coming on as a substitute at 42 years old during the 1994 World Cup.
This is likely to be the final World Cup for Ronaldo, who won the Champions League five times with Manchester United and Real Madrid and currently plays for Saudi club Al-Nassr.
___
This story was first published on Jun. 17, 2026. It was updated on Jun. 18, 2026 to remove an erroneous mention of a goal by Christian Pulisic. Pulisic did not score in the United States’ first World Cup game.
Read more Government can’t restrict gun ownership over habitual weed use, Supreme Court rules
___
AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup
