Ronaldo's Goalless Streak in World Cup and Euro Finals Reaches 10 Games

Cristiano Ronaldo extended his goalless streak in major tournament finals – World Cups and European Championships – to 10 consecutive matches on Wednesday, drawing a blank in Portugal's draw against DR Congo in their 2026 World Cup opener.

After scoring from a penalty in the 65th minute of Portugal's 2022 Qatar World Cup debut against Ghana, CR7 failed to find the net in the remaining four matches of that tournament, none of the five games at Euro 2024, and now, in the opening fixture of the World Cup hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada. In total, across World Cups and European Championships, he has gone 10 games and 802 minutes without a goal, excluding stoppage time.

On November 24, 2022, Ronaldo converted a penalty against Ghana in a match Portugal won 3-2. The national team captain would not score again in the competition, though he started in the 2-0 victory over Uruguay and the 1-2 defeat to South Korea, being substituted in the 82nd and 65th minutes, respectively.

The forward reacted poorly to his substitution against the South Koreans, and in the subsequent match, then-national coach Fernando Santos benched him, handing Gonçalo Ramos a starting spot in the Round of 16 clash against Switzerland. The current PSG player responded positively, netting a hat-trick in the emphatic 6-1 win over the Swiss. Ronaldo only entered the game in the 73rd minute.

Fernando Santos again benched Ronaldo for the quarter-final against Morocco, though he brought him on earlier, in the 65th minute, with Portugal trailing 0-1 – a scoreline that ultimately held until the final whistle.

Portugal was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup, and Fernando Santos was subsequently dismissed. Roberto Martínez took over. Cristiano Ronaldo started Euro 2024 in the lineup and played the full 90 minutes of Portugal's opening 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic. In the second match against Turkey (3-0), Ronaldo again played the full 90 minutes and drew another blank, though he did provide an assist for Bruno Fernandes.

To conclude the group stage, despite Portugal having already secured first place in Group F, Roberto Martínez made numerous changes to the squad but still kept Ronaldo in the starting XI. Ronaldo was substituted in the 66th minute of the match against Georgia, with Portugal already trailing 0-2. For the first time in his career, since Euro 2004, the Al Nassr forward finished a major tournament group stage without a goal. In the Round of 16 against Slovenia, he once again earned Roberto Martínez's trust but failed to score. CR7 had a penalty in the 105th minute with the score still level, but Oblak saved it.

In the quarter-finals against France, in a 3-5 penalty shootout defeat after 120 goalless minutes, history repeated itself, and Cristiano Ronaldo, on the field for the entire match, did not score. Now, two years later, Ronaldo was named in Roberto Martínez's starting lineup for the 2026 World Cup opener against DR Congo and once again failed to find the net. Uzbekistan is next, offering a chance to break the drought.