You canโt find Portugal in this kind of list, but Argentina is top 5 footballing nation in history, People really donโt understand what Cristiano Ronaldo has done for Portugal. It doesnโt need a World Cup to validate it. Portugal was never one of footballโs traditional superpowers. They produced great players before him, but they werenโt viewed in the same category as nations like Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Italy, or France. Ronaldo changed that forever. You canโt even put them in that conversation, but look at it now, heโs single-handedly change how we view them, and the qualities of players they will produce after him.
For nearly 10 years now, every major tournament started with Portugal being considered a genuine contender, and thatโs because of one man โฆโฆ. Cristiano Ronaldo.
Before Ronaldo, Portugal had moments. With Ronaldo, Portugal became an era.
Heโs the face of the nation, broke every scoring record imaginable, carried different generations of players, and helped deliver Portugalโs first major international trophy, now they have 2 more. More importantly, he raised the expectations of an entire country. Portugal donโt enter tournaments hoping for a miracle, they entered expecting to compete with anyone.
Thatโs a legacy bigger than a single trophy.
Winning a World Cup is often a combination of timing, squad quality, luck, injuries, and circumstance. Transforming the status of an entire footballing nation for twenty years is something far rarer. Ronaldo didnโt just win games for Portugal, he changed how the football world sees Portugal.
When future generations think of Portugal football, itโs one Man that will come to mind first, and thatโs why his international legacy stands among the greatest the sport has ever seen.
Unpopular opinion
Bruno Fernandes is the one carrying Portugal in this World Cup and not Ronaldo
There is no Portugal without Bruno Fernandes ๐ซโ๏ธ