Hope is the last thing to die, they say. Fans are still hoping that Cristiano Ronaldo will be present for the match against Mexico on March 28 at Estadio Banorte and against the USMNT on March 31 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta-the only matches with his national team before what will be his sixth and final World Cup.
However, his hamstring injury has kept him off the field in recent weeks, and there is no official confirmation guaranteeing his presence there. But this wouldn’t be the first time he’s missed matches against these teams.
How many matches has CR7 played against Mexico and the U.S.?
Since the 41-year-old Portuguese star has been playing for Portugal, his team has faced Mexico four times. Interestingly, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has missed three of those matches.
At the 2006 World Cup in Germany, in the third match of the group stage against Mexico -which ended in a 2-1 victory for his team- he did not play.
Years later, in 2014, the two teams faced off in Boston as part of their preparation for the World Cup in Brazil, but tendinitis in his left knee kept CR7 off the roster.
Finally, at the 2017 Confederations Cup, Mexico faced Portugal in the first match of the group stage, but on that occasion, Cristiano Ronaldo started. He played the full 90 minutes and provided an assist in a match that ended 2-2. However, in the same tournament, Mexico faced Portugal again in the third-place match, but CR7 requested permission to leave the camp as he had just become the father of Eva María and Mateo (twins, via surrogacy), according to ESTO. After Portugal lost the semifinal to Chile, his coach granted him permission.
On the other hand, Cristiano has faced the U.S. national team only once in official matches with the Portuguese national team. The match took place during the group stage of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, specifically on June 22, 2014, at the Arena da Amazônia. The match ended in a 2-2 draw, and Ronaldo provided the decisive assist in the final minute for Silvestre Varela’s equalizer.
In 2017, Portugal faced the United States in a friendly that ended in a 1-1 draw, but Cristiano did not play due to a coaching decision and to rest.
Meanwhile, looking ahead to this doubleheader and with less than ninety days to go before the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo’s participation will depend on the progress of his recovery from injury.
The Portuguese national team has called up Cristiano and Joao Felix, from Al-Nassr, “but the participation of Ronaldo will be determined once the final medical report on his injury is published“, according to information from Al-Riyadh. For now, all we can do is wait.
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