Luís Castro Doesn't Blame Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal's Elimination

Luís Castro, the Portuguese coach and former manager of Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr, believes Spain's victory over Portugal in the 2026 World Cup Round of 16 was deserved. He emphasized that modern football is decided by fine margins and collective effort, not individual brilliance.

Speaking to the Saudi newspaper Arriyadiyah, the Grêmio coach analyzed the match, describing it as balanced but with a slight edge for the Spanish national team, who maintained more possession and created more dangerous scoring opportunities.

Castro detailed the decisive moment of the game, explaining how Spain managed to score the winning goal. "The game was very balanced, despite Spain's slight superiority in possession and creating more dangerous opportunities," he began.

"While Portugal was preparing for extra time, Spain was still pushing for a winning goal in regular time, and therefore committed more players to attack. In one of these attempts, one of Portugal's central defenders moved out of position, which opened up space for an unmarked Spanish player to infiltrate the defensive line and score the winning goal," he analyzed, referring to Rúben Dias and Merino.

When questioned about Cristiano Ronaldo's performance, Luís Castro refused to attribute individual blame for the defeat, arguing that the assessment should focus on the team's collective display. "I don't evaluate players individually; a team's value lies in the group as a whole. It was Portugal that lost, not a specific player," the coach stated.

Regarding the favorites to win the competition, Castro noted that there are currently technically superior teams. "There are stronger teams at the moment. Argentina is at the highest level, while England and France are right behind them," he remarked. Finally, the Portuguese coach shared his prediction for the 2026 World Cup final, forecasting that the title would be contested and won by either France or Argentina.