Cristiano chances of arriving to 2026 World Cup and how Rio Ferdinand defends him from the critics

The EUROS are over, but some football fans want to know the future of Cristiano Ronaldo in professional football. The 39-year-old striker did not look convincing to many football fans after failing to score a goal at a major international tournament for Portugal national team in EURO 2024 for the first time in his career.

He provided assistance and started all of the matches for Portugal, which was eliminated in the quarterfinals by France on penalties. Now he returned to Saudi Arabia to prepare next season with Al Nassr.

A football legend who used to be CR7's teammate who defended him in his tournament with Portugal was Rio Ferdinand. The former Manchester United defender was not happy to see the criticism Ronaldo received for the tournament he had with Portugal. He believes Cristiano is still a key player for coach Roberto Martinez and he could be play in the 2026 World Cup in fit conditions.

Ferdinand said, "If it were not for Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal would not have qualified for the Euros. He scored 10 goals in the qualifiers at the age of 39!” The impressive stat is real, and he demonstrated to still be a threat in the box for opposition teams at the EUROS.

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Ferdinand goes on to defend Ronaldo from all the critics that he couldn't score in the tournament and says, "Cristiano is close to scoring 1,000 goals in the world of football. When he misses his chances, we can allow him to do so.” Ronaldo started his goalscoring record for Portugal at major international tournaments since EURO 2004. The Portuguese striker had the opportunity to score in the tournament when he had a penalty against Slovenia in the Round of 16, but Jan Oblak saved it.

Another critique Ronaldo received was the amount of free kicks he chose to take on goal. Ferdinand said, "It is not only Ronaldo who wants to take free kicks, all the players want to do so, Bruno [Fernandes] wants to shoot, but the coach is the one who decides that. I don't understand why you blame Ronaldo for this. It's his obsession, his desire to play every game, it's part of his greatness, so why would you stop that?"

Ferdinand on Portugal before Cristiano Ronaldo

Another great support for Ronaldo and Ferdinand mentioned is how Portugal performed at the EUROS before Cristiano Ronaldo played for them. Ronaldo has helped Portugal qualify for every European Championship from 2004 to 2024. Before 2004, Portugal did not qualify in eight of the last 11 EUROS before 2004.