Cristiano Ronaldo is in real danger of not being a part of the 2022 World Cup, thanks to Portugal's luck of the draw for the play-offs.
Follow Us
Cristiano Ronaldo has made no secret of the fact that the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be his last international tournament with Portugal. And you can understand why that is the case.
The Portuguese superstar will be 38 by the time of the next showpiece event. Even with his fitness levels, it seems unlikely he will want that much of a workload by the time of the 2026 showpiece event.
However, as things stand, there is a real danger the 2022 event in Qatar will not feature Ronaldo. This is because Portugal recently missed out on automatic qualification for the tournament.
Their final Group A match against Serbia saw them slump to a shock defeat. This, in turn, led to them failing to grab the top spot of the group, meaning automatic qualification is no longer a possibility.
Of course, it is worth pointing out that they aren’t yet out. They will be in the play-offs and there is every chance they will be boarding a flight to Qatar come December 2022.
However, their chances of qualifying for the tournament via the play-offs have also become very tough after the the three paths were announced on Friday.
The reason? They have been drawn in the same path as current European champions Italy, who also missed out on automatic qualification.
In essence, of these 12 teams, only three are going to be part of the tournament in Qatar next year. Those are, to put it mildly, not great odds.
Still, given Portugal’s status as heavyweights of the game, many expected them to get through the qualifiers – especially if given a favourable draw.
However, that is exactly what they did not get. As things stand, either the Euro 2016 or Euro 2020 winners will not be part of the World Cup. And while that will be a massive loss for the tournament, such is the nature of the draw.
It’s not as if Cristiano Ronaldo and co. are guaranteed a spot in the Path C final either. Their semi-final opponents are Turkey who, despite an underwhelming Euro 2020, still pose a threat.
It helps considerably that Turkey have been unbeaten since a change of manager this September. Ever since Stephen Kuntz took over the reins, he’s brought about a change in the team’s form.
The full draw:
Path A
Semi-final 1: Scotland v Ukraine
Semi-final 2: Wales v Austria
Path B
Semi-final 3: Russia v Poland
Semi-final 4: Sweden v Czech Republic
Path C
Semi-final 5: Italy v North Macedonia
Semi-final 6: Portugal v Turkey
It seems unlikely. Back in 2016, when interviewd by beIN Sports, Cristiano Ronaldo was asked his views about the World Cup being held in Qatar.
“Very good, for me,” Ronaldo replied. “I expect Qatar could be my final World Cup. I often go on holidays there, to Qatar as well as Dubai. I’m happy because for sure it will be my last international tournament.”
Of course, sportspeople have been known to walk back on such things before. It’s not as if he has officially announced his retirement at this point. But even then, it seems unlikely he would prolong his career further.
There are two reasons for this line of thought. Firstly, he would be past 40 by the time the next World Cup rolled around. That is a time when most athletes are starting to wind down their careers; even those as fit as Ronaldo.
The other reason would be the type of football that is and will be played. At present, most teams like to employ a pressing style of football that sees players always on the front foot.
Ronaldo, to put it mildly, is not suited to such a style. And even at present his role in the team’s build-up and overall play can often be minimal; he is there to score goals and little else.
Will that be enough to warrant him playing another 4 years? It is unlikely, especially since Ronaldo is a conundrum that most managers post-Zinedine Zidane have been unable to solve.
Thus, the focus will be on making the 2022 World Cup. Anything else seems far-fetched and unrealistic for Portugal and Ronaldo.
