Cristiano Ronaldo failed to follow the lead of football’s other elite stars as Portugal were held to a 1-1 draw against DR Congo in Houston.
The result was a sharp contrast to the previous day’s action, when three of the game’s greatest players delivered stunning individual performances at the 2026 World Cup.
Kylian Mbappe scored twice against Senegal to become France’s all-time leading scorer, while Erling Haaland marked his World Cup debut with two goals against Iraq.
Lionel Messi then went one better, netting a hat-trick for Argentina against Algeria to draw level with Miroslav Klose as the joint-leading goalscorer in World Cup finals history.
Wayne Rooney had joked before kick-off that Ronaldo would be “raging – but in a good way” at the exploits of his fellow superstars the previous evening.
“That’s how he’s pushed himself and his mentality is that everything is a challenge for him,” said Rooney on BBC One, adding that Ronaldo and Messi had driven each other on over the years.
Ronaldo entered the match chasing history, with the chance to become the first player ever to score in six different World Cup tournaments, but the 41-year-old struggled to make any meaningful impression.
Portugal did take an early lead when Joao Neves headed in a Pedro Neto cross in the sixth minute, but Newcastle forward Yoane Wissa nodded in a deserved equaliser for DR Congo just before half-time.
Despite Portugal enjoying 75% possession throughout the match, they managed only seven attempts at goal, with just the Neves strike finding the target.
Ronaldo registered only 25 touches over the full 90 minutes, the fewest of any Portugal outfield player who played the whole game, highlighting just how peripheral his contribution was.
The Al-Nassr striker had two chances in quick succession midway through the second half, after half-time substitute Francisco Conceicao twice cut the ball back from the right, but both efforts were wasted.
Ex-Premier League striker Chris Sutton, commentating on BBC Radio 5 Live, was highly critical of manager Roberto Martinez’s decision to keep Ronaldo on the pitch for the entire match.
When Goncalo Ramos replaced midfielder Vitinha in the 83rd minute rather than Ronaldo, Sutton said: “That’s embarrassing from Martinez. It might work but are we all watching a different game?”
“He’s scared to take him off. He’s not the manager. [Ronaldo] may end up scoring the winner but the game has passed him by today,” Sutton added sharply.
Former France full-back Gael Clichy suggested Ronaldo’s superstar presence may “unconsciously” affect the way his team-mates play around him, pointing to the moment Conceicao chose to square the ball rather than shoot.
“In the first chance, maybe if it was not Ronaldo, [Conceicao] would have had a go at goal,” said Clichy on BBC One, drawing on his own experiences at Arsenal and Manchester City with similarly dominant figures.
Clichy was careful not to lay the blame entirely at Ronaldo’s door, noting: “This is normal and this is where the choice of the manager is important because during the 90 minutes, we were saying ‘is he going to take him out because we know he’s got a goal in him?'”
Rooney, speaking at full-time, maintained that Ronaldo’s quality remains intact if the right opportunities are created for him.
“His stats will never be the best,” said Rooney. “What he needs is chances. If he gets good chances, he’ll score goals.”
Ronaldo has now gone 10 consecutive games at major tournaments without scoring, a remarkable and unwanted run for a player with 143 international goals across 229 caps for Portugal.
