Portugal go through, but in second place

This weekend, Portugal drew with Colombia to round off their group stage campaign at the 2026 World Cup.

With this result, the Portuguese finished second in Group K with 5 points, behind Colombia, who had 7. Both teams progressed to the next round. DR Congo finished third with 4 points and also secured a place in the next round, whilst Uzbekistan, making their World Cup debut, failed to pick up any points and were ultimately eliminated.

Many Portuguese fans were somewhat disappointed, as they had expected the team – European champions for the first time ten years ago and winners of the Nations League in 2019 and last year – to top the group.

But Colombia’s campaign is perhaps not all that surprising: in the last three World Cups they have contested, the South American side have also finished top of their group.

In the group stage, Portugal recorded two draws – 1–1 with DR Congo and 0–0 with Colombia – and one victory, a 5–0 thrashing of Uzbekistan. The result went down in history as the third time the Portuguese have won a World Cup match by a margin of five goals or more.

Portugal’s World Cup victories by a margin of five goals or more:

  • 7–0 against North Korea (2010)

  • 6–1 against Switzerland (2022)

  • 5–0 against Uzbekistan (2026)

In total, Portugal conceded just one goal and scored six across their three group stage matches.

These six goals all have specific scorers: one was an own goal, scored by goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov; another was by Rafael Leão, a nominee for the 2022 ‘Ballon d’Or’; one by João Neves and another by Nuno Mendes – both of whom were nominated for the award last year –; as well as two by none other than Cristiano Ronaldo, a five-time winner of the ‘Ballon d’Or’.

Another chapter for Cristiano

This achievement is yet another addition to CR7’s long list of honours, as he became the first player in history to score in six different World Cups.

He is also one of only three players to have featured in six editions of the tournament, alongside Lionel Messi, for Argentina, and Guillermo Ochoa, for Mexico.

Messi, winner of the last World Cup and holder of a record eight Ballon d’Or awards, remains the player with the most appearances in the tournament’s history, with 28. Ronaldo is close behind, level with Germany’s Lothar Matthäus, both on 25 matches.

There is, however, one key difference compared to the Argentine: whilst Messi was rested at times, Ronaldo played every minute for Portugal in this World Cup. Manager Roberto Martínez used 22 players during the group stage, rotating the squad extensively – with one exception: the number 7.

By scoring twice against Uzbekistan, Ronaldo was also named FIFA’s Man of the Match and became Portugal’s all-time leading World Cup goalscorer with ten goals, overtaking Eusébio’s nine, who had topped the list for 60 years.

It is worth noting, however, that Eusébio scored all nine of his goals in a single edition of the tournament, the 1966 World Cup – the very one that saw Portugal achieve their best-ever finish: third place.

As a result, Ronaldo has further extended his record as the Portuguese national team’s all-time leading goalscorer, now with 145 goals in 231 matches. The figure is all the more impressive when compared to that of the player in second place on the list, Pauleta, who has scored less than a third of that total, with 47 goals.

In total, the player – who has been nominated 18 times for the ‘Ballon d'Or’ award – has now scored 975 goals in his career and is edging ever closer to the long-awaited 1,000-goal mark. During the group stage, he made it clear that he is chasing this goal, shooting frequently and featuring among the players with the most shots on target in the tournament so far.

The player who defies time

The feat is all the more impressive when one considers Ronaldo’s age.

By scoring twice against Uzbekistan, CR7 became the oldest player in history to score two goals in a single World Cup match. He also became the oldest Portuguese player to score in the tournament’s history, at 41 years and 138 days, surpassing Pepe’s record, who found the net in 2022 at the age of 39 years and 283 days.

Ronaldo made his debut for the Portuguese national team on 20 August 2003, when he was just 18 years old, and his first World Cup goal came in the 2006 tournament – against Germany – at the age of 21 years and 132 days. As a result, CR7 now holds both records: that of the youngest Portuguese player and the oldest Portuguese player to score at a World Cup. Only two other players have achieved the same feat for their national teams: Michael Laudrup, for Denmark, and, once again, Messi, for Argentina.

Ronaldo’s participation in this World Cup also made him the oldest player to start a match in the tournament’s history (excluding goalkeepers).

Apart from CR7

But the veteran striker was not Portugal’s only standout performer in the group stage.

Renato Veiga led the team in defensive actions in the draw against Colombia, with 15 contributions.

Another player who caught the eye was Bruno Fernandes, nominated for the Ballon d'Or in 2022, who completed more through balls than any other player in the group stage, with five.

Meanwhile, Vitinha, a two-time nominee for the ‘Ballon d'Or’, was the key figure in Portugal’s midfield and the player with the most touches in the national team’s first two matches of the tournament.

His Paris Saint-Germain team-mate, Nuno Mendes, scored a superb free-kick against Uzbekistan – only Portugal’s second direct free-kick goal in the entire history of the World Cup. And the first? Cristiano Ronaldo, of course, against Spain in 2018.

The worrying statistics

Even so, many Portuguese fans had expected more from the national team and from Ronaldo himself so far.

By conceding a goal to Yoane Wissa in the 1–1 draw, Portugal allowed the DR Congo to score their first goal and secure their first point in World Cup history.

The Congolese side’s only previous appearance in the tournament had been in 1974. On that occasion, the team lost all three of their matches, conceded 14 goals and failed to find the net even once.

The goalless draw against Colombia also means that CR7 has yet to score against South American sides in major international tournaments.

The fact remains that Ronaldo has yet to score a single goal in World Cups beyond the group stage.

Yesterday, Stephen Eustáquio, the son of Portuguese parents, scored against South Africa and helped Canada qualify for the round of 16. Although he plays for the Canadian national team, the goal made him the first number 7 of Portuguese origin to score in a World Cup knockout stage. It is a curious feat – and a record that will certainly not please Ronaldo.

The next challenge

Will Portugal manage to raise their game in the round of 16 and rekindle their fans’ hopes of winning the World Cup for the first time?

The answer will begin to emerge on Thursday, when the Portuguese side face Croatia, runners-up in the 2018 World Cup.