Cristiano Ronaldo has confirmed that he will not be playing at the Fifa Club World Cup this summer.
This is the start of a new era for the Club World Cup, turning from a yearly tournament including just the continental champions to a full-blown competition. With it being the first tournament under the revamped format, Fifa will have wanted as many stars possible in the United States.
Lionel Messi will be there after his side Inter Miami were invited to take part. But there were a lot of questions about the involvement of Ronaldo.
Al-Nassr missed their chance to qualify for the Club World Cup in the 2023-24 season, being knocked out of the AFC Champions League quarter-finals by Al Ain. They also didn’t rank well among AFC teams to get that extra slot. So, Ronaldo’s pathway to the Club World Cup was blocked at Al-Nassr.
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However, with Fifa allowing clubs to sign and re-sign players earlier than usual, a new pathway opened up for the Portuguese talisman. Ronaldo could have signed a short-term contract for a club playing at the Club World Cup, to take the stage at the tournament.
Rumours were flying, especially as Ronaldo looked to have said goodbye to Al-Nassr at the end of the 2024-25 season. Ronaldo’s contract is up this summer, and many believed he would look for a move to a team in the Club World Cup.
This was fuelled by Fifa president Gianni Infantino saying that Ronaldo could play for one of the Club World Cup teams.
“There are discussions with some clubs,” Infantino said towards the end of May.
But we hadn’t heard from Ronaldo himself. Until now. The Portuguese star has admitted that he won’t be playing at the Club World Cup, even though he received offers.
“I will not be at the Club World Cup,” Ronaldo told reporters ahead of Portugal’s Uefa Nations League Final showdown with Spain.
“Some teams reached out to me. Some made sense and others did not, but you can’t try and do everything. You can’t catch every ball.”
According to reports, Ronaldo — now 40 — could sign a new deal with Al-Nassr, whom he joined in 2023.