The opening games of the 2026 World Cup have been all about the biggest stars in the world showing up on the biggest stage in the world, except for one notable disappointment — Cristiano Ronaldo.
On Tuesday, Kylian Mbappe scored twice in France’s victory over Senegal. Erling Haaland also scored twice in Norway’s win against Iraq. Then came an iconic performance from Lionel Messi as he netted a hat trick against Algeria to become the joint top scorer in World Cup history with Miroslav Klose.
On Wednesday, all eyes were on Messi’s generational counterpart, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, to see how he would respond. Given Ronaldo’s personality and pride, the wide expectation was that he would go all out to try to match his peers and rivals.
Alas, it was not meant to be. Ronaldo cut an isolated figure as Portugal slumped to a stunning 1-1 draw against Democratic Republic of the Congo.
He spent most of his time languishing in the penalty area as Portugal passed around him without any real purpose or ambition. In spite of having a 75%-25% possession advantage, Portugal actually had fewer attempts on goal than DRC did in the match. And Ronaldo’s most meaningful contribution was taking chances away from his teammates and firing them wide of the goal.
On the Fox post-match show, Thierry Henry explained that Ronaldo’s desire to score goals for himself is actually hurting Portugal.
Thierry Henry on Cristiano Ronaldo: “The team needs to score, not you need to score.” ⚽️🎙️ #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/0xkS1UaaAI
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 17, 2026
“The team needs to score, not you need to score,” Henry said as he encapsulated the situation perfectly. He highlighted a specific example where Ronaldo took a golden chance away from a waiting Bruno Fernandes in the second half to force an awkward shot wide.
“Because he wants to score, he goes into the path of Bruno Fernandes. If he goes into the six-yard box, you’ve been in that situation Alexi, you would have had to follow him. Then it would have been a tap-in for Bruno Fernandes. But because he wants to score, he goes in the path of the backpass. You see both players and it’s easier for you to defend. And that’s my thing, the team needs to score, not you,” Henry added.
This is the kind of analysis that soccer fans has been yearning for from Fox Sports for many years in televising the FIFA World Cup. Henry has been one of the top analysts on television with his work on CBS’s Champions League coverage and his addition to Fox along with Rebecca Lowe and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have dramatically lifted the network’s efforts in 2026. How they continue to relate to working with Alexi Lalas is another story.
Portugal remains one of the top favorites for the World Cup and still boasts what may be the deepest roster in the tournament. But if the team insists on being built around Ronaldo, who has just one goal in his last seven World Cup appearances, they won’t live up to their potential.
About Matt Yoder