The No 7 shirt is handed back
Cristiano Ronaldo has announced his retirement from international football, bringing down the curtain on 23 years with Portugal. The 41-year-old revealed the decision on 5 November 2026 in an emotional video shared on his social media accounts, telling supporters that the time had come to hand back the shirt he has worn since he was a teenager.
“To the Portuguese people, the day has come for me to hand back the number 7 shirt of our national team,” Ronaldo said in the video. “A journey that began in August 2003 and changed my life forever has come to an end.”
He closed the message with a line that summed up what the shirt has meant to him: “The number seven shirt will remain. The pride of having worn it will be mine forever. Portugal will always be a part of me. Farewell, until we meet again.”
The announcement ends one of the greatest international careers football has ever seen — and it does so on his own terms, five weeks after a public fallout with the national team setup that had left his future in doubt.
234 caps, 146 goals: numbers no one else has reached
No player in the history of men’s international football has appeared more often for his country, and no one has scored more. Ronaldo retires with 234 senior appearances for Portugal and 146 goals — both world records in the men’s game.
The figures only tell part of the story. He also holds the record for the most international victories, with 141 wins in a Portugal shirt, and he played at a record six European Championships. At World Cups he matched another record, appearing at six tournaments from Germany 2006 to the 2026 finals in North America, scoring in every one of them.
His 11 World Cup goals include three at the 2026 tournament, where he was still finding the net at 41. Portugal’s campaign ended in the last 16 with a 1-0 defeat to Spain, who went on to lift the trophy — and that night in the summer now stands as his final appearance on football’s biggest stage.
From an 18-year-old debutant to Euro 2016 champion
Ronaldo’s international story began on 20 August 2003, when an 18-year-old winger from Madeira came on against Kazakhstan. Few debuts have ever led anywhere near as far. Within a year he was starring at Euro 2004 on home soil, and he never left the centre of Portugal’s story again.
The defining night came at Euro 2016 in France, when he captained Portugal to their first major trophy. Forced off injured in the final against the hosts, he spent the rest of the match urging his team-mates on from the touchline before lifting the trophy himself. It remains the single greatest achievement of his international career.
Two Nations League titles followed, in 2019 and again in 2025, the second of them won in the final year of his international career. Across more than two decades he carried Portugal through generations of team-mates, from the golden generation he joined as a teenager to the young squad he led in 2026.
Six World Cups — and the one trophy that stayed out of reach
For all the records and the trophies, one prize always eluded him. Ronaldo played at six World Cups and scored at all six, a feat no other player has matched, but the tournament itself never came to Portugal. The closest he came was the semi-final in 2006, when a young Portugal side lost to France.
The 2026 finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico were presented as his last chance, and he delivered three goals before Spain ended Portugal’s run in the last 16. It was a cruel way for the story to end — beaten by the neighbours who went on to become champions — but it did not change what he had already built.
What he leaves behind is a body of work that may never be matched: six World Cups, six European Championships, two Nations League titles and a European Championship, with a goal record that sits 146 clear of every rival in the history of the men’s game.
A farewell after the September fallout
The retirement announcement comes five weeks after Ronaldo’s relationship with the national team reached its lowest point. At the end of September he left the Portugal camp after a row with head coach Jorge Jesus, and the Portuguese Football Federation suspended him for 30 days and fined him €255.
Ronaldo later apologised and said he remained available for international selection. For a time it looked as though the door was still open. Instead, he has now closed it himself — choosing to end his Portugal career on his own terms rather than wait for the next squad announcement.
The federation responded to the announcement with a statement expressing its profound and eternal gratitude for his services, calling him the country’s “eternal captain” and promising to organise an event in his honour.
What happens next: Al Nassr and the tribute
This is a retirement from international football, not from the game itself. Ronaldo continues his club career with Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, where his contract runs through June 2027. The goals, the celebrations and the records at club level go on — only the Portugal shirt is handed back.
For Portugal, the task now is to move on without the player who has defined their national team for a generation. The number 7 shirt will be worn by someone else, and the team will play its next matches without the captain who led them for so long.
Ronaldo’s farewell message ended the way his career began — with Portugal at the centre of it. “Portugal will always be a part of me,” he said. After 234 matches and 146 goals across 23 years, it is hard to argue with that.
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