For Diogo Jota, he became the face of Portugal’s grief. For Luka Modric, the consoler. For broadcasters, the only agenda. For his nation, a hero they were starting to fall out of love with. At full-time in Toronto, Cristiano Ronaldo wore multiple hats. He was Portugal’s saviour.
A narrative-defier. A record-breaker. His penalty resuscitated Portugal, and his performance earned yet another age-defying milestone. Oldest ever to score at a World Cup knockout, and to win a player of the match award. The one thing he no longer looked like was the Ronaldo football once knew.
He could have been. In the ninth minute, Pedro Neto whipped in an inswinging cross so inviting that it seemed designed exclusively for one man. Leaping for it was the master of leaps. Ronaldo. For well over a decade, the outcome was an inevitability. Here, though, he missed – the ball, the flight of it, the timing of the jump. For several seconds, Neto simply stood still, both hands planted on his head, struggling to comprehend what he had witnessed.
AS IT HAPPENED: Portugal vs Croatia FIFA World Cup 2026 Highlights
An hour and three-quarters later, another cross was flung in. On this occasion, a floaty in-stepper from the right, by Rafael Leao. Goncalo Ramos drifted between Josko Gvardiol and Marin Pongracic, timed his leap perfectly and powered a header into the corner. 2-1. The knockout specialists were dealt a knockout punch. Between Ronaldo’s missed header and Ramos’ decisive one lies the story of Portugal’s night — the one that you might have missed.
Coming into this fixture, Ronaldo featured in every minute of every game. Neither was he prolific, nor was Portugal indomitable. DR Congo and Colombia held them to stalemates. Yet, Martinez has consistently defended his decision not to substitute his captain. In-substitute-able. Until the 81st minute in Toronto.
Tactical shift
Ruben Neves replaced Ronaldo, and it sparked a domino.
Nineteen minutes earlier, Martinez’s quadruple substitution had left Portugal with only one holding midfielder. Croatia expectedly seized control of the midfield, registering four attempts in that period, while Portugal managed none save from Ronaldo’s penalty. Neves restored numerical balance in midfield.
More importantly, it allowed Ramos to occupy a position unavailable with Ronaldo.
Of Ramos’ 1,026 minutes for Portugal before facing Croatia, 200 had come alongside Ronaldo. During those minutes, he scored just once. Without Ronaldo, however, he had scored ten goals in 826 minutes. His goals-per-minute rate improves from one every 200 minutes to one every 82.
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The numbers suggest Martinez’s two-striker approach may be counterproductive. If not for the change, Ramos might not have been the farthest figure forward. Getting there was only a part of the equation. The more telling detail, though, lies in the heading numbers.
Fading edge
Here, we recall Sampdoria 2019. Playing for Juventus, Ronaldo launched himself to meet a cross with a leap that has since entered football folklore. His jump: 71 centimetres. Total elevation: 2.56 metres. End product: An exemplary headed goal. Claudio Ranieri, the opposition manager, had seen almost everything in football, but not something like that. “Ronaldo did something that you see in the NBA. He was up in the air for an hour and a half,” he would say. Sampdoria’s erstwhile president, Massimo Ferrero, argued: “Ronaldo had to be booked for that leap. It was as if he was taking off like an aeroplane.”
Heading has always been one of Ronaldo’s greatest gifts. He caresses air with a craftsman’s finesse. Or at least, he used to.
Till 2019, 102 of his 607 club goals (16.7%) and 24 of his 99 international goals (24.2%) came from headers.
Jose Fonte, who shared dressing rooms with Ronaldo from their youth days, has revealed that heading was once one of his weakest attributes. What was not, however, was commitment. He did what only a few could dream of — working hard enough to turn a frailty into a forte. Except acquired talents, unlike innate ones, come with an expiration date.
From 2020, Ronaldo’s physical powers started to decline. Its first casualty was his aerial supremacy. The headed goals statistics in the last six years read: 23 of 223 in club football (10.3%), four out of 47 in internationals (8.6%). A significant dip on both levels.
The numbers reveal what the eye increasingly suspects. The most feared aerial footballer of his generation rarely rules the skies anymore. That Neto’s cross did not meet a head, or Leao had to wait till his fourth cross to find one, was not an aberration.
Ronaldo still produced plenty against Croatia. His penalty was immaculate. His ruled-out receive-and-finish was pristine.
Yet he might not have extended his stay in America if not for the substitution. For the first time in this competition, Roberto Martinez did Cristiano Ronaldo a favour by not favouring him.
Cristiano Ronaldo converted a penalty, helping Portugal beat Croatia in the Round of 32 match. (AP) 
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