Cristiano Ronaldo retires from international football after 23 years, 234 caps and a record 146 goals for Portugal
Cristiano Ronaldo has announced his retirement from international football, closing a 23-year Portugal career in which he became the most-capped men's player and the highest scorer in the history of the international game.
Cristiano Ronaldo has announced his retirement from international football, bringing down the curtain on a Portugal career that lasted 23 years and rewrote the record books. The 41-year-old forward confirmed the decision on Thursday in a video posted on Instagram, telling supporters that the time had come to hand back the number seven shirt he wore for his country.
“To the Portuguese people, the day has come for me to hand back the number seven shirt of our national team,” Ronaldo said in the video, which was accompanied by images from across his international career. “I never felt it belonged to me alone, but for 23 years I had the privilege and the responsibility of wearing it, defending it and carrying it with me into stadiums all around the world.”
He described the decision as one of the hardest of his life. “Today the time has come to pass it on to the future. It was not an easy decision, because some decisions are not made with the mind alone – they are also made with the heart,” he said. “A journey that began in August 2003 and changed my life forever has come to an end.”
The numbers behind that journey are unlikely to be matched for a generation. Ronaldo made his Portugal debut on 20 August 2003, as an 18-year-old substitute against Kazakhstan, and went on to win 234 caps and score 146 goals – both world records in men's international football. He scored in 23 consecutive calendar years, from 2004 to 2026, and became the first player to score at six World Cup final tournaments, finishing with 11 World Cup goals, more than any other Portuguese player.
His career also delivered the trophies that had eluded Portugal for decades. He captained the side to its first major title at the European Championship in 2016, and added Nations League triumphs in 2019 and 2025. At the European Championship he set records that still stand, with 30 appearances and 14 goals across six editions of the tournament.
The ending, however, was far from the farewell many had imagined. Ronaldo had already said in July that the 2026 World Cup would be his last tournament, and Portugal's campaign ended in the round of 16 against Spain, who went on to lift the trophy. Then, in September, he walked out of the national team camp after being told he would not start a Nations League match against Denmark, and he was an unused substitute against Norway.
The Portuguese Football Federation imposed a 30-day suspension after the walkout, and the dispute with coach Jorge Jesus over his place in the side cast a shadow over his final weeks as an international. In his retirement video Ronaldo did not dwell on the row, choosing instead to thank the Portuguese people and to frame the decision as a matter of the heart.
The federation thanked Ronaldo for his contribution and said he should receive “the tribute he deserves”, leaving open the possibility of a farewell appearance on the pitch. Portugal are due to announce their squad on Friday for November's Nations League fixtures, at home to Denmark and away to Wales, and it remains unclear whether any ceremonial goodbye will be arranged.
Ronaldo's retirement from international duty does not end his playing career. He will continue with his club, Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, where he is under contract until June 2027, and he remains in pursuit of 1,000 career goals, having scored 985 so far. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has also won five Champions League titles across spells with Manchester United and Real Madrid, after beginning his career at Sporting in Lisbon and later playing for Juventus.
His departure comes weeks after his great rival Lionel Messi also retired from international football, closing the era in which the two players defined the sport for nearly two decades. For Portugal, the question now is who inherits the number seven shirt and how a team built around Ronaldo for a generation reshapes itself. The November fixtures will offer the first glimpse of that future, but whatever follows, the record books will carry his name at the top for a long time to come.
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