Cristiano Ronaldo had a message for his critics after firing Portugal to a big win over Uzbekistan at the 2026 World Cup, insisting he has long grown used to the noise that has trailed him for more than two decades.
The Portugal captain scored twice to lead his country to a comprehensive victory. He also became the first player in football history to score in six different editions of the World Cup.
That tenth goal made him Portugal's all-time top scorer at the tournament.
Yet Ronaldo seemed more pleased with the team's collective display than with his own milestone, stressing that the only goal that mattered was reaching the next round.
Speaking after the match, in press comments reported by the Spanish newspaper "AS", Ronaldo said: "It is always nice to break records, but my real aim is to help the team achieve its goals. Our objective at this stage was to qualify, and I believe we have done that after reaching four points."
A sarcastic reply to his critics
The Al-Nassr striker turned to the criticism he faced after the draw in the opening match, insisting it no longer touches him.
"Always... it has been going on for 23 years," he said.
He went on: "We improved a lot from one match to the next. Life is always like this, what matters is that you keep developing. We went through an extremely difficult week, and the criticism was very harsh on all of us, especially on me and on the coach."
Then came a jab at his critics, accusing them of contradiction: "But if it is going to stay like this, there is no problem, because I have been doing this job for 23 years. When things go well they say Cristiano is wonderful, and when they go badly they say he is a retired player, that he has grown old, and it will always be that way."
He added: "But we gave the right response, my team-mates and I. We played well, we were organised and we pushed our lines forward. When Portugal play this way it becomes very hard to stop them, and it is no coincidence that we scored five goals. Scoring that number of goals in modern football is not easy, and that is why I am extremely happy."
"Today Cristiano arrived at the World Cup"
For Ronaldo, the Uzbekistan match marked his true arrival in the tournament after the flak that followed the opener.
"Today Cristiano proved that he has arrived at the World Cup, and that Portugal have arrived too," he said. "When we do not play well or do not win we are always attacked, and me especially, but as I said before, I have got used to it and I keep playing."
Ronaldo brushes off the Messi comparison
Asked about Lionel Messi's goals in the tournament, the Portugal captain offered only a brief reply: "I am not interested in what Messi does."
Messi scored five goals in the matches against Algeria and Austria in Group Ten, and has become the top scorer of the current edition as well as the tournament's all-time top scorer with 18 goals.
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The story behind Nuno Mendes' goal
Ronaldo also lifted the lid on the free-kick that Nuno Mendes drove home.
"I was going to take the free-kick, but I said to Nuno: let's trick the goalkeeper, he will think that I am the one who will shoot," he explained. "Strike the ball hard and it will be a goal."
He signed off: "Before the match I told the players that we have to stay united from start to finish. What we can control is what happens on the pitch, while what comes from the outside is difficult to control. Today other players scored, and that was the aim. Today I was the best on the pitch, and tomorrow it may be another player. If we stay united then I believe we are capable of going far in this tournament."