Cristiano Ronaldo on Tuesday (October 6, 2026) accused Portugal coach Jorge Jesus of breaking his word about giving him game time in Nations League matches, but said he remained available for his country.
Ronaldo said Jesus, who was appointed after Portugal were knocked out of the World Cup Round of 16, had initially presented him with a plan for the international window which included starting the opening and final games at home, but not travelling for the matches in Norway and Denmark. Portugal won all four of their Nations League matches and qualified for the quarter-finals with two games to spare. “Despite the absolute breakdown of trust in the head coach’s word… I shouldn’t have done it. The responsibility is mine alone.
Ronaldo also apologised to Portugal supporters, but insisted he had been responding to the veteran coach’s “broken word”. “The head coach failed to keep his word to me,” said Ronaldo, Portugal’s most capped player and all-time top goalscorer. Former Real Madrid and Manchester United forward Ronaldo said he spoke with Jesus after that and agreed with him that the coach would apologise in a news conference ahead of the Denmark game. However Ronaldo said Jesus’s subsequent press conference was completely different from what was agreed in their conversation, with an “aggressiveness” he had never previously experienced from the coach.