Portugal Draw with DR Congo in World Cup Opener Raises Fresh Questions About Ronaldo's Relevance

Portugal's 2026 World Cup campaign began with a disappointing 1-1 draw against DR Congo, marking the fourth time in five tournaments that the team failed to win their opening match. João Neves gave Portugal an early lead with a header, capping an impressive opening sequence in which they completed 84 passes to DR Congo's 12 in just six minutes. However, DR Congo equalized before halftime through a corner-kick goal by Yoane Wissa and ultimately dominated the latter stages of the match, finishing with more shot attempts (eight to seven), more shots on goal (two to one), and higher expected goals (0.82 to 0.64).

The result reignited debate about 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo's effectiveness at the highest level of international football in his sixth World Cup. Playing all 90 minutes, Ronaldo recorded just three shot attempts and zero chances created, while also posting two progressive carries and two progressive passes—both the second-fewest among Portugal's starting lineup. Unlike peers such as Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, and Lionel Messi, who all recorded multigoal performances in their opening matches, Ronaldo struggled to find space against DR Congo's defenders and was forced to drift wide of the goal. He recorded two successful aerial duels but made no ground duel attempts, no defensive interventions, and just one ball recovery.

Portugal dominated possession early but became increasingly ineffective after falling behind. Coach Roberto Martínez withdrew several creative players including Bernardo Silva, Pedro Neto, Nuno Mendes, and Vitinha, but kept Ronaldo on the pitch for the full match. When asked about Ronaldo's performance, Martínez deflected criticism of his star forward, instead emphasizing team-level issues. "After the first goal, we didn't reach the final third at the level we needed to provide service to the striker and make use of his movements," the coach said. "It's about making better use of all the players on the pitch. The striker needs to stay close to goal, but we need to find the spaces and get the ball into those positions."

DR Congo's coach Sébastien Desabre highlighted his team's mental resilience after a difficult start, drawing parallels to their World Cup qualifying match against Nigeria last November, when Nigeria scored in the third minute before DR Congo equalized and ultimately advanced via penalty kicks. "Mentally we have the ability to cope with difficult starts to matches," Desabre said. "I know my players are capable of resetting themselves mentally and reacting in the right way to put the team back on the right track after a difficult beginning." The result demonstrated that DR Congo entered the tournament as a competitive force despite being heavy underdogs against Portugal.