‘Run 1,000 marathons!’ - Why Cristiano Ronaldo may have another left in him at 2030 World Cup as ex-Man Utd team-mate explains what makes GOAT ‘robot’ unique

Portugal will be taking on co-hosting duties alongside Spain and Morocco. They will be looking to put on quite the show, with Ronaldo expected to play some part in that spectacle. It remains to be seen whether he will be lacing up record-shattering boots and taking to the field.

There has been no sign of him slowing down, with Saudi Pro League title glory being savoured with Al-Nassr in 2025-26. A couple of Golden Boots have already been secured in the Middle East, while there are 12 months left to run on the most lucrative of contracts.

An extension may be agreed in Riyadh, as CR7 continues to chase down individual targets. He is determined to reach 1,000 competitive career goals and become a team-mate of eldest son Cristiano Jr.

Prolonging his career will allow both of those targets to be hit, while raising a few remarkable bars of brilliance. He is already the most-capped and highest-scoring performer in men’s international football and has vowed to always make himself available when his country comes calling.

Could they do so again in 2028 for European Championship duty, before then turning collective focus towards another World Cup? Ronaldo has been giving little away when it comes to his long-term future, amid “last dance” claims from his sister, but the appeal of another major tournament on home soil is obvious.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has made a career out of silencing doubters and defying logic, with great pride being taken in proving any detractors wrong. More questions have been faced at the 2026 World Cup, but will they only serve to fuel the hottest of sporting firepits?

When that question was put to Saha, Ronaldo’s former Manchester United team-mate - speaking courtesy of Freebets.com, the home of the best betting sites - told GOAL: “That's the problem, I think at some point he has to stop because he's clearly a human. But yes, he's playing like a robot.

“He has this quality body and his brain is not like a normal person. I don't think that even [Lionel] Messi has this kind of brain because Messi understands that he can't run as much as Cristiano. He just really knows that he will need the help of pretty much eight to nine players dedicated to his game, otherwise Messi won't be playing this way.

“Cristiano doesn't ask. He doesn't ask for help. He's saying, ‘I'm fit enough, I'm as good, I am like 35 years old, so I'm going to score with your support or not’. So this is really a big mentality that I respect.

“It's a big, big, big difference between those two. Even if they are two monsters, definitely I respect more this guy because you look at his stats - run nine-and-a-half or 10 or 11km. This is crazy numbers. He may have run 1,000 marathons now! It's crazy.”

Ronaldo haskept himself in peak physical condition over the course of a stunning career that has taken him from Sporting to Al-Nassr via Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus. An enviable collection of major honours has been picked up along the way, but there remains one notable omission on that roll of honour.

World Cup glory has proved elusive, but the intention remains to get that box ticked. Portugal will have their work cut out there in 2026, as they prepare to face neighbours Spain in the last-16, and another near miss could convince CR7 to play on into his mid-40s and towards 2030.