Ronaldo Leaves Portugal Camp After Coach Benches Him for Denmark

Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal's 41-year-old captain, left the national team's training camp in Copenhagen after coach Jorge Jesus said he would not start Thursday's UEFA Nations League match against Denmark, a decision that followed a meeting involving Jesus, Ronaldo and Portuguese Football Federation president Pedro Proenca.¹³⁵⁷

Departure from camp

Ronaldo announced his exit from the training camp on Instagram, writing that the decision came after Jesus's news conference and a conversation with Proenca. He said he would explain his reasons later: "In due course, I will tell all the Portuguese people the truth about the reasons that led me to leave the national team." He closed the statement by wishing his teammates well.⁵⁷

Video shared by the Portuguese outlet A Bola showed Ronaldo departing Parken Stadium, while the Spanish outlet Marca reported he was planning to fly to Madrid aboard a private jet. Proenca travelled to Copenhagen and the rest of the Portugal squad arrived at the team hotel without Ronaldo or Jesus.⁴

Jesus rejected any suggestion of a rupture with his captain. Jesus said it might have looked like there was a problem between the two of them, but maintained that none existed. he added that the decisions are his alone to make, and everyone knows this. He also denied that Ronaldo had refused to train, calling the idea implausible: "He didn't refuse. He's going to train today... Do you believe that? Not Cris."⁴⁵⁷

Benching and Jesus's explanation

In Portugal's 1-0 victory over Wales last week, Ronaldo was in the starting lineup, attempted seven shots without finding the net, and was replaced by Goncalo Ramos in the 67th minute. He was then an unused substitute in Sunday's 2-1 victory over Norway, only the third time in his career he has not featured at all for Portugal in a match.¹⁷

Jesus said he had informed Ronaldo in advance that he was expected to feature against Norway before reversing that decision, and conceded the situation had not been handled well: "Any player – and I was a player myself... when a player spends 20 or 30 minutes warming up without eventually getting onto the pitch... no one is happy about that."²³⁷

Jesus said the same rules apply to every player in the squad and that Ramos would start against Denmark if things went to plan, while leaving open the possibility that Ronaldo could be used from the bench. he explained that he would bring Ronaldo on if needed and would leave him out otherwise.²³⁶

Background

Ronaldo is Portugal's most-capped player, with 234 appearances, and is men's international soccer's all-time leading scorer with 146 goals for the national team. According to Sports Mole, he is currently on 979 career goals in total. Jesus previously coached Ronaldo for a year at Saudi club Al Nassr, where they won the Saudi Pro League, and said his own move to coach in Saudi Arabia came at Ronaldo's invitation.¹²⁴⁵

According to the Irish Times, Ronaldo faced criticism after an underwhelming World Cup and was named in the squad for four Nations League fixtures; his international career could now be over. According to Sports Mole, Ronaldo had been expected to step away following the 2026 World Cup, and his current deal with Al-Nassr runs through the end of this season. Sky Sports reported that Ronaldo indicated last month he was likely to hang up his boots when his club campaign concludes next June.⁵⁶¹

According to Sky Sports, Ronaldo had been a regular starter for Portugal since 2003; he was dropped from the starting lineup for 2022 World Cup knockout matches by then-coach Fernando Santos, and was later selected from the start for all 10 Portugal matches at the 2024 European Championship and the World Cup under Roberto Martinez, who resigned after a Round of 16 exit at the 2026 World Cup.¹⁷