Could Portugal win the Euros with Ronaldo on the bench?

Roberto Martínez, the manager of the Portuguese National Team, has received a cautionary note about this summer’s European Championships: in order to win the tournament, he’ll need to bench longtime star Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite being 39 years old, Ronaldo continues to serve as Portugal’s captain and contributed significantly to their qualification campaign.

Under Martínez’s leadership, Portugal achieved a rare feat, becoming just the eighth team ever to win all their matches in European Championship qualifying. During Portugal’s impressive run of 10/10 consecutive victories, Ronaldo tallied 10 goals, second only to Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku during qualifying.

Yet, Martínez is under pressure to exclude Ronaldo from the tournament. Frank Leboeuf, who won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 Euros while playing for France, argues that Portugal’s chances of contending for the title in Germany this summer would be better if Ronaldo were left off the squad entirely. 

There is an abundance of soccer betting apps covering competitions all over the world. Those apps go to great lengths to differentiate themselves from similar betting platforms with unique features and promos. Most betting sites have Portugal listed among the top handful of favourites to win the Euros.

However, Lebouef argues that Ronaldo’s decision to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr in January 2023 has hurt him. He’s no longer playing at the highest level, so Lebouef claims that Ronaldo’s limited exposure to elite matches could potentially hinder Portugal’s prospects.

“For me, Portugal are actually one of the contenders for this summer’s European Championships,” Lebouef explains. “I actually think they can win the Euros, but only if Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t play.”

Lebouef says he has no problem with Ronaldo or Lionel Messi leaving top European leagues for lesser leagues. But not playing at a high level consistently means Ronaldo may not be the best option for a deep and talented Portugal team.

Former Liverpool star Patrick Berger is also questioning Ronaldo’s spot with the Portugal squad, at least as part of the starting lineup. He says that Ronaldo’s age and ego are the biggest issues that Martínez and Portugal should be worried about ahead of the Euros.

“He is 39. I actually thought that he shouldn’t have been starting at the World Cup just over 18 months ago,” says Berger. “I think they have such a great team Portugal and can win the entire tournament, even without Ronaldo in the starting XI. They have a much bigger chance if he doesn’t play every single game from the start.”

Of course, Ronaldo was removed from the starting lineup during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Naturally, it created quite a stir but received praise from many pundits. The obvious caveat is that Martínez was not Portugal’s manager during the World Cup. He chose to play Ronaldo throughout Portugal’s perfect qualifying campaign. But he now faces the difficult decision on whether or not to bench the longtime superstar during the Euros amidst outside pressure to drop him from the squad.

As for Ronaldo, he’s hoping to participate in his record-extending sixth European Championship. Before getting hurt in the final, Ronaldo was a key part of Portugal’s victory at the 2016 Euros. He could potentially cap his international career by leading Portugal to another European championship. However, whether he’ll be an automatic starter for the national team or not, especially at the business end of the tournament, remains to be seen.