Portuguese journalist Pedro Sepúlveda has claimed that legendary footballer Cristiano Ronaldo’s decision to retire from international football was influenced by feelings of betrayal towards head coach Jorge Jesus.
Ronaldo officially announced his retirement from the Portugal national team on November 5, 2026.
According to Sepúlveda, Ronaldo had initially planned to end his international career after the 2026 FIFA World Cup, having felt that he had given enough to his country.
However, Portugal coach Jorge Jesus and the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, Pedro Proença, reportedly convinced him to continue representing the national team. Sepúlveda claims that Ronaldo later felt betrayed because they failed to defend him amid a recent controversy.
Cristiano Ronaldo retires from international football
“The thing is, Ronaldo feels that he wanted to retire after the World Cup. He made that decision. And then Pedro Proença, the new president of the federation, with Jorge Sousa, together with the project, convinced him to stay. And in his head, after they convinced him, they made the decision to do this to Ronaldo without defending him. That's why,” he told talkSPORT in an interview.
The journalist further claimed that Ronaldo was unhappy with Jesus after the coach allegedly failed to publicly apologise for his actions following the player's departure from Portugal's camp as an unused substitute in their win over Norway.
Sepúlveda said the incident had affected the relationship between the two, leaving Ronaldo deeply disappointed.
“I think there are two details that we should mention. First of all, in my opinion, Ronaldo wanted the sanction of leaving the Portuguese camp to be longer, because if the sanction was, for example, one week more, he would have to think about returning to the national team only in March, because then we have this international break and then the other one is in March, I think. So Ronaldo wanted time to think.
“So Ronaldo still thinks that it's just a short time between what happened and taking a decision. So that's why he took this decision, let's say, with hot heads. But the saddest person on earth right now, I know, is Cristiano Ronaldo. I just spoke with someone who was with Cristiano today. And he told me, ‘You cannot even believe how sad he was.’ Jorge Jesus, with Pedro Proença, tried to call Ronaldo during the last days,” he noted.
Sepúlveda also suggested that Ronaldo would not feature in a farewell match for Portugal while Jesus remains in charge of the national team.
“That last friendly game for everyone to say goodbye to Cristiano Ronaldo won't happen. He thinks there are no conditions for him to return to the national team of Portugal until Jorge Jesus is the coach. And of course, because he knows that Jorge Jesus is going to stay for more than one year, and he knows that in one year Ronaldo probably won't be playing football,” he added.
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❌ "That last friendly game won't happen!" 👀 "Simon Jordan is wrong!" Portuguese football expert reveals all on why Cristiano Ronaldo decided to retire from international football! Subscribe to the talkSPORT YouTube channel! https://t.co/neXIh2OCwb
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