The Portuguese team has been placed in a group with the Czech Republic, Türkiye and Georgia. Roberto Martínez’s team comes from a perfect qualifying campaign, winning all 10 games, of which Ronaldo played in 9.
Ronaldo, 39, is the person with the most titles in the history of the Euro Cup. After winning their only championship title at the Euros eight years ago, defeating France 1-0 in extra time, Ronaldo and Portugal are seeking their second European crown in this tournament.
Ahead of their opening match of the campaign against the Czech Republic on June 18, former Major League Soccer (MLS) star Mosse told Essentially Sports that the Portuguese team has a star-studded squad, so the veteran Ronaldo does not need to be present to make a difference.
Ronaldo was called up to the Portuguese national team for Euro 2024 at the age of 39. Photo: GETTY.
Mosse shared: “I myself still have doubts at the highest level of football: can Cristiano Ronaldo create a breakthrough for the Portuguese national team? I do not think. The bad news for them is that Ronaldo is 39 years old and plays in a low tournament in Asia (Saudi Pro League). It is completely different from the main European tournaments.
The best news is that with the current Portuguese team they have many other talents. They don’t need Ronaldo to be great, that is, to “carry the team.” I don’t know if Ronaldo will strengthen or weaken the team. I think the Portuguese team also has Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Rafael Leao, Vitinha and Joao Félix, as well as other good players who play in the main European tournaments. “That is why they are considered one of the candidates for the Euro Cup title without Ronaldo ruining the squad.”
Despite the detractors, Cristiano Ronaldo is the player with the most titles in international men’s football, with a record of 128 goals in 206 appearances in all competitions. He is also the only player to have appeared in the last five European Championships. Ronaldo made his debut in the tournament in 2004, when Portugal was the host country and lost 0-1 to Greece in the final, in which the 19-year-old scored two goals and provided two assists in six games.
The Portuguese star is about to break the record of participating in 6 consecutive European Championships. Photo: GETTY.
Four years later, Ronaldo scored a goal and three assists in three games before losing 3-2 to Germany in the quarterfinals. At Euro 2012, he scored three goals in five games, but unfortunately the European Selecao lost to eventual champions Spain on penalties in the semi-finals.
The Portuguese national team won Euro 2016, with Ronaldo scoring three goals and providing many assists in seven games. In this way, he became the first player to score in four European championships. Four years later, Ronaldo scored five goals and assisted once in four games in Portugal’s 1-0 round of 16 loss to Belgium.
In total, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner set a Euro Cup record of 14 goals in 25 games and also scored 41 goals (in 44 games) in the Euro Cup qualifiers, another record. Ronaldo is also about to become the player who will set the record for participating in six European Championships.
