Houston, June 18 : Cristiano Ronaldo has defended Portugal’s sluggish start to their FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign, insisting “nothing was missing” in the team’s performance despite a disappointing 1-1 draw against Congo here at Houstan Stadium. Ronaldo, who became the oldest outfield player to ever start a World Cup match, played the full 90 minutes but was unable to make a decisive impact in front of goal as all three of his strikes went wide off the target.
“Nothing was missing, football is like this. Portugal could have won, but they could also have lost,” Ronaldo told Sport TV Portugal in a brief exchange after the game. Ronaldo played out his sixth World Cup game with zero shots on target. It’s also the second time he recorded zero shots on target in a World Cup match in which he played 90 minutes. This was his 23rd career World Cup game, tied for fourth most in competition history. Ronaldo has now gone 10 consecutive major tournament games without scoring for Portugal (FIFA World Cup and Euros). He’s taken 33 shots, with 11 going on target. Portugal predictably monopolised possession. They had over 75 per cent of it. They also led early courtesy of a header by the seldom-anything-but-superb Joao Neves.