Portuguese media: Ronaldo has become a problem.

The Portuguese press launched an attack today, Thursday, on the national team, which began its journey on Wednesday in the 2026 World Cup with a disappointing draw against the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1-1), considering that the veteran star Cristiano Ronaldo has become “a problem in himself.”

Luis Matheus from the sports newspaper “A Bola” wrote: “It seems that the pressure has weighed heavily on Cristiano Ronaldo... at this stage, he has become a problem in himself... but Portugal is heading towards the abyss due to its insistence on not seeing what is obvious.”

In reference to the declining effectiveness of the 41-year-old player, who has won the Ballon d'Or for the best player in the world five times (229 international matches, 143 goals), the newspaper noted that “CR7 played 90 minutes and missed two goals unusually.”

The newspaper “Público” headlined its front page with: “Bad result, terrible performance.”

The conclusion of the match report stated that Portugal “remains a hostage to its faith in Ronaldo, but faith alone is not enough, especially with the current Ronaldo.”

For his part, Alexander Costa, a journalist at “A Bola,” criticized the playing style of the Portuguese team, describing it as “slow and predictable,” concluding that “it is hard to understand how a team with this level of individual quality can deliver so little.”

In the pages of the newspaper “Record,” its director Bernardo Ribeiro felt that after this “dismal” performance, Portugal must do much better.

Journalist Sergio Crithinas summarized the situation by saying: “The draw with the Democratic Republic of the Congo is not a catastrophic result; however, the performance has burst the bubble of optimism” that the Portuguese had when arriving in the United States, where the finals are being held in conjunction with Canada and Mexico.