Cristiano Ronaldo crying at the 2022 Qatar World Cup
There were tears in the tunnel. Cristiano Ronaldo has spent much of 2022 struggling to contain his emotions. This time, at least, he could be forgiven for submitting. There may have been an element of selfishness about the way the substitute walked off the field, leaving his teammates to sympathize with each other and acknowledge the outnumbered Portuguese unity in the stands.
Sure enough, the man who knows he has the cameras fixed on him rarely felt supported as he nodded when Ruben Dias and Diogo Costa were fouled while Youssef En-Nesyri scored the only goal. That was the end for Ronaldo, but it often is, given the range and scale of goals he has scored over the past two decades.
Morocco wins over Portugal
An hour later, as the victorious Moors knelt before their boisterous supporters, Ronaldo was weeping for himself, for his dream. You will not complete the group. Lionel Messi may win the World Cup but Ronaldo will not. One ambition will elude him, and one medal will lose him. Private grief may have been the reaction of a self-centered individual, but it was, in a sense, a solitary pursuit. He was the only survivor of the team that lost the 2006 semi-finals to France, but there will be no second meeting with France in the round of four.
Even when Ronaldo was dropped, after 18 years as an automatic option, when his replacement Goncalo Ramos scored a hat-trick against Switzerland, it opened up new possibilities: that he could lift the trophy won by younger strikers in a more effective squad. He could even be the super substitute who scored the World Cup winning goal. "We thought we could reach the final and win the final," said Fernando Santos. Portugal had the talent, but as Ronaldo crowded Morocco's full-back squad, this was not the case.
There may be a happy ending for the veteran Ballon d'Or winner, but for Messi or Luka Modric, who seemed able to turn this tournament to their will. But not for Ronaldo. He will be 41 when the next World Cup begins, and this was the year his strength finally waned, along with his appeal to coaches. Eusébio will remain Portugal's record scorer at World Cup finals. The Brazilian will remain the greatest Ronaldo at the World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo will not score any goals in the knockout stages.