Julen Laurens has expressed bluntly that Cristiano Ronaldo should not be at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Laurens, who is a French football journalist and broadcaster based in London, made these assertions whilst contributing to the ESPN+ soccer show ESPN FC.
Julen Laurens On Cristiano Ronaldo Being At The 2026 FIFA World Cup
Julen Laurens shared that he thinks Ronaldo should not be at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, citing a significant drop in the performance level of the Al Nassr man.
The 44-year-old said: “I don’t think Cristiano Ronaldo should be at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. I don’t think he will be good enough anymore.”
Craig Burley Expresses Scepticism Regarding Portugal’s Fate With Cristiano Ronaldo
Craig Burley, who is a pundit on the show, had initially indicated his reservations with the attacker potentially being amongst Portugal’s contingent for the 2026 FIFA World Cup before Laurens chimed in on the conversation after he was questioned on the age Ronaldo would be at the tournament.
Julen Laurens responded that Ronaldo would be (41), and Burley went on to indicate his pessimism about Roberto Martinez possibly including the football great in his squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Craig Burley added that everything points to Portugal failing to win the competition for the umpteenth time, with boss Martinez bearing the brunt of it.
The ex-Celtic and Derby Country player made these comments after saying that Roberto Martinez should experiment with his setup to find out how they can be productive in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo Reach Landmark 900th Career Goal
Ronaldo was on target for Portugal in their UEFA Nations League group stage clash against Croatia on September 5, 2024, with the former Manchester United man helping the Selecao to a 2-1 win over the Croats.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal in the encounter made him reach a landmark 900th career goal, a feat that has never been achieved by any other footballer.
Ronaldo, who recently launched his UR . Cristiano YouTube channel, was delighted to have gotten to that milestone, and he revealed in a post-match presser the reason why he was emotional after scoring.
He said: “It was emotional because it’s a milestone. It seems like any other milestone, but only I know, and the people around me, how hard it is to work every day, to be physically and psychologically fit, to score 900 goals. It’s a unique milestone in my career.”
Portugal return to action on September 8, 2024, with a game against Scotland at the Estadio da Luz.
Ronaldo will be hoping to extend his goal tally in that game, as the Lusos aim to win the competition.
The milestone also meant that Ronaldo has increased his international goal tally to 131 goals in 212 appearances.
Cristiano Ronaldo Career Stats
Ronaldo has made 1015 club appearances thus far in his career, scoring 761 goals and providing 239 assists across all competitions.
Internationally, Cristiano Ronaldo has made 212 appearances for Portugal, scoring 131 goals and providing 47 assists.
Portugal
Roberto Martinez’s side currently occupy the 2nd spot in Group 1 of the UEFA Nations League A, with 3 points from 1 game, the same number of points as Poland, who sit at the summit of the log by goals scored.
Scotland and Croatia are the countries that occupy the 3rd and 4th spots with no points thus far.
