{"id":1458617,"date":"2026-06-16T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?post_type=features&#038;p=1458617"},"modified":"2026-06-16T10:46:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T09:46:13","slug":"tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"Cristiano Ronaldo analysis: Why Portugal won\u2019t win the 2026 World Cup if they build around Ronaldo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Portugal have one of the more navigable <a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/bet\/football-tips\/world-cup-2026-betting-tips-predictions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">World Cup<\/a> groups this summer.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Admittedly, Colombia will pose a threat to the European powerhouse. They should make light work of DR Congo when they face the African nation this week. Tournament debutants Uzbekistan are unlikely to pose much of a threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Roberto Martinez\u2019s men should feel confident about going to the distance. However, there is one key reason why they may fail to win the World Cup. This despite boasting one of the strongest squads at the competition. Bruno Fernandes comes into the tournament on the back of his history-making season. He registered 21 assists, a Premier League record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joao Neves and Vitinha feature on the back of their Champions League success over Arsenal. Rafael Leao, Bernardo Silva, Nuno Mendes and Ruben Dias are all top-quality players at Martinez\u2019s disposal. There is, though, a Cristiano Ronaldo-shaped elephant in the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-table-of-contents yoast-table-of-contents\"><h2>In this article, we&#8217;ll cover:<\/h2><ul><li><a href=\"#h-ronaldo-chasing-down-1-000-goal-landmark\" data-level=\"3\">Ronaldo chasing down 1,000-goal landmark<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-portugal-captain-s-dire-euro-2024-campaign\" data-level=\"3\">Portugal captain&#8217;s dire Euro 2024 campaign<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-elite-striker-options-limited\" data-level=\"3\">Elite striker options limited<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-ronaldo-chasing-down-1-000-goal-landmark\">Ronaldo chasing down 1,000-goal landmark<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Ronaldo will lead the line for Portugal this summer. The 41-year-old shouldn\u2019t even be available for looming meetings with DR Congo and Uzbekistan. And yet, two of his three-match ban following his dismissal against Republic of Ireland in November have been suspended for a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the availability of a player chasing down 1000 career goals would be a boost for any nation, for Ronaldo; his availability is a hindrance rather than a help. Portugal won their two pre-tournament friendlies as they beat Chile and Nigeria. Yet, few remember the scoreline. Rather, the focus has been on Ronaldo\u2019s comical misses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A one-on-one he\u2019d normally score, a header he inadvertently sent into row-z, a missed chance when a teammate was in acres of space to score. These have been the biggest takeaways from Portugal\u2019s pre-World Cup victories. That in itself is a concern for Portugal. They need to do everything in their power to avoid placating Ronaldo in North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-portugal-captain-s-dire-euro-2024-campaign\">Portugal captain&#8217;s dire Euro 2024 campaign<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Portugal\u2019s Euro 2024 showing should have proven a pre-cursor into the how ineffective they are when they continue with Ronaldo as the main man. It was a tournament where only Kylian Mbappe (24) had more shots than the experienced striker (23). The difference being was that Mbappe <em>actually<\/em> scored at the Euros.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200527\/season_stat-leader-top-10-no-image-3-819x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1458619\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200527\/season_stat-leader-top-10-no-image-3-819x1024.jpg 819w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200527\/season_stat-leader-top-10-no-image-3-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200527\/season_stat-leader-top-10-no-image-3-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200527\/season_stat-leader-top-10-no-image-3-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200527\/season_stat-leader-top-10-no-image-3-214x267.jpg 214w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200527\/season_stat-leader-top-10-no-image-3-160x200.jpg 160w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200527\/season_stat-leader-top-10-no-image-3-48x60.jpg 48w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200527\/season_stat-leader-top-10-no-image-3-120x150.jpg 120w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200527\/season_stat-leader-top-10-no-image-3-59x74.jpg 59w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200527\/season_stat-leader-top-10-no-image-3.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Ronaldo failed to hit the back of the net once. Given the quality of the chances he was presented with, Ronaldo should have scored at least three goals. An xG underperformance of 3.6 was the biggest of its kind in Germany two years ago. This includes a penalty miss in an eventual shootout victory over Slovenia. This should have been proof enough that Ronaldo\u2019s horse had run its race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And yet, 24 months later, and we\u2019re on the cusp of Portugal\u2019s World Cup campaign, and Ronaldo is set to lead the charge in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-elite-striker-options-limited\">Elite striker options limited<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Admittedly, Martinez is somewhat hamstrung by a lack of striker options. Goncalo Ramos will act as Ronaldo\u2019s backup this summer. The 24-year-old, who exploded onto the scene in Qatar with his hat-trick against Switzerland in 2022, struggled for consistent game time with Paris Saint-German last season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ramos scored six league goals in PSG\u2019s 2025-26 Ligue 1 success. He netted just three times across 13 starts, and two of those came against relegated Metz. The likes of Joao Felix and Goncalo Guedes struggle as the lead frontman in a 4-3-3 setup. A lack of options on the frontline means Martinez essentially needs to turn to Ronaldo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, for Portugal to ultimately win the World Cup this summer, they\u2019ll need to ensure Ronaldo isn\u2019t at the heart of every attacking move. They did so at Euro 2024, and crashed out in the quarter-finals to France, failing to score a knockout goal in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Portugal boast one of the strongest teams in North America and there is ample quality running through the squad. And while Ronaldo enjoyed a fine 2025-26 Saudi Pro League season, scoring 28 goals on their way to domestic success, the league itself is a step below international football\u2019s showpiece competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s been painstakingly obvious in their pre-tournament friendlies. Portugal can ill-afford to underestimate DR Congo. Even so, they should get the job done against the Leopards. It\u2019ll be a far more straight-forward clash if they don\u2019t rely on Ronaldo to fire them to all three points.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3><strong>Read more:<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/bet\/football-tips\/world-cup-2026-betting-tips-predictions\/\"><strong>World Cup predictions &amp; tips<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/outright-markets\/world-cup-outright-odds\/\"><strong>World Cup outright odds <\/strong><\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/world-cup-2026-fixtures-results\/\"><b>World Cup fixtures &amp; results<\/b><\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/world-cup-2026-betting-offers\/\"><b>World Cup free bets<\/b><\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Portugal have one of the more navigable World Cup groups this summer. Admittedly, Colombia will pose a threat to the European powerhouse. They should make light work of DR Congo when they face the African nation this week. Tournament debutants Uzbekistan are unlikely to pose much of a threat. Roberto Martinez\u2019s men should feel confident&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3564,"featured_media":1458618,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"portugal world cup","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Portugal boast one of the strongest squads at the 2026 World Cup, but their reliance on Cristiano Ronaldo remains a major concern.","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"features-category":[],"squawka-category":[27631],"class_list":["post-1458617","features","type-features","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","squawka-category-world-cup"],"acf":{"external_featured_image_url":"","hide_featured_image_pattern":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cristiano Ronaldo analysis: Why Portugal won\u2019t win the 2026 World Cup if they build around Ronaldo | Squawka | EN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Portugal boast one of the strongest squads at the 2026 World Cup, but their reliance on Cristiano Ronaldo remains a major concern.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cristiano Ronaldo analysis: Why Portugal won\u2019t win the 2026 World Cup if they build around Ronaldo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Portugal boast one of the strongest squads at the 2026 World Cup, but their reliance on Cristiano Ronaldo remains a major concern.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Squawka | EN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SquawkaFootballNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200321\/3ENJYFR-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1706\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@squawka\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ben McAleer\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d83177c024444113f28c89f65fde90b4\"},\"headline\":\"Cristiano Ronaldo analysis: Why Portugal won\u2019t win the 2026 World Cup if they build around Ronaldo\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T14:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/\"},\"wordCount\":763,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200321\/3ENJYFR-scaled.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"accessibilityFeature\":[\"tableOfContents\"]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/\",\"name\":\"Cristiano Ronaldo analysis: Why Portugal won\u2019t win the 2026 World Cup if they build around Ronaldo | Squawka | EN\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200321\/3ENJYFR-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T14:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Portugal boast one of the strongest squads at the 2026 World Cup, but their reliance on Cristiano Ronaldo remains a major concern.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200321\/3ENJYFR-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200321\/3ENJYFR-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"3ENJYFR Leiria, Portugal. 10th June, 2026. June 10, 2026. Leiria, Portugal. Portugal and Al-Nassr forward CRISTIANO RONALDO (7) in action during the International Friendly game, Portugal vs Nigeria Credit: Alexandre de Sousa\/Alamy Live News\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Squawka\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Features\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Cristiano Ronaldo analysis: Why Portugal won\u2019t win the 2026 World Cup if they build around Ronaldo\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Squawka | EN\",\"description\":\"Football News, Stats, and More...\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d83177c024444113f28c89f65fde90b4\",\"name\":\"Ben McAleer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ecc09a71c5a7a0a154f65a823b2d57f865ae282917ddd2eadc3272ff5a55348f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ecc09a71c5a7a0a154f65a823b2d57f865ae282917ddd2eadc3272ff5a55348f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ben McAleer\"},\"description\":\"Ben has over 15 years\u2019 worth of experience in the world of football writing and has previously featured on The Guardian, The Independent, Sky Sports, The Irish Examiner, talksport, and more. Ben is, for his sins, a Tottenham fan with a soft spot for Barnet.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/benmcaleer1\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/author\/benmcaleer\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cristiano Ronaldo analysis: Why Portugal won\u2019t win the 2026 World Cup if they build around Ronaldo | Squawka | EN","description":"Portugal boast one of the strongest squads at the 2026 World Cup, but their reliance on Cristiano Ronaldo remains a major concern.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cristiano Ronaldo analysis: Why Portugal won\u2019t win the 2026 World Cup if they build around Ronaldo","og_description":"Portugal boast one of the strongest squads at the 2026 World Cup, but their reliance on Cristiano Ronaldo remains a major concern.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/","og_site_name":"Squawka | EN","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SquawkaFootballNews\/","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1706,"url":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200321\/3ENJYFR-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@squawka","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/"},"author":{"name":"Ben McAleer","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d83177c024444113f28c89f65fde90b4"},"headline":"Cristiano Ronaldo analysis: Why Portugal won\u2019t win the 2026 World Cup if they build around Ronaldo","datePublished":"2026-06-16T14:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/"},"wordCount":763,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200321\/3ENJYFR-scaled.jpg","inLanguage":"en-GB","accessibilityFeature":["tableOfContents"]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/","url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/","name":"Cristiano Ronaldo analysis: Why Portugal won\u2019t win the 2026 World Cup if they build around Ronaldo | Squawka | EN","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200321\/3ENJYFR-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-16T14:00:00+00:00","description":"Portugal boast one of the strongest squads at the 2026 World Cup, but their reliance on Cristiano Ronaldo remains a major concern.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200321\/3ENJYFR-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/2026\/06\/15200321\/3ENJYFR-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1706,"caption":"3ENJYFR Leiria, Portugal. 10th June, 2026. June 10, 2026. Leiria, Portugal. Portugal and Al-Nassr forward CRISTIANO RONALDO (7) in action during the International Friendly game, Portugal vs Nigeria Credit: Alexandre de Sousa\/Alamy Live News"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/tactical-analysis-cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-world-cup\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Squawka","item":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Features","item":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Cristiano Ronaldo analysis: Why Portugal won\u2019t win the 2026 World Cup if they build around Ronaldo"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/","name":"Squawka | EN","description":"Football News, Stats, and More...","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d83177c024444113f28c89f65fde90b4","name":"Ben McAleer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ecc09a71c5a7a0a154f65a823b2d57f865ae282917ddd2eadc3272ff5a55348f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ecc09a71c5a7a0a154f65a823b2d57f865ae282917ddd2eadc3272ff5a55348f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ben McAleer"},"description":"Ben has over 15 years\u2019 worth of experience in the world of football writing and has previously featured on The Guardian, The Independent, Sky Sports, The Irish Examiner, talksport, and more. Ben is, for his sins, a Tottenham fan with a soft spot for Barnet.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/benmcaleer1"],"url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/author\/benmcaleer\/"}]}},"yoast_title":"","yoast_description":"Portugal boast one of the strongest squads at the 2026 World Cup, but their reliance on Cristiano Ronaldo remains a major concern.","yoast_keyword":"portugal world cup","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/features\/1458617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/features"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/features"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3564"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/features\/1458617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1458829,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/features\/1458617\/revisions\/1458829"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1458618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1458617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1458617"},{"taxonomy":"features-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/features-category?post=1458617"},{"taxonomy":"squawka-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/squawka-category?post=1458617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}