{"id":11847,"date":"2026-11-07T13:16:43","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T13:16:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/07\/cristiano-ronaldos-portugal-legacy-may-never-be-matched-infantino-businessday-ng\/"},"modified":"2026-11-07T13:16:43","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T13:16:43","slug":"cristiano-ronaldos-portugal-legacy-may-never-be-matched-infantino-businessday-ng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/07\/cristiano-ronaldos-portugal-legacy-may-never-be-matched-infantino-businessday-ng\/","title":{"rendered":"Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s Portugal legacy may never be matched – Infantino – Businessday NG"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gianni Infantino, FIFA president, has paid tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a> following the Portuguese forward\u2019s announcement of his retirement from international football, describing his achievements as milestones that \u201cmay never be matched\u201d and praising his immense contribution to the game.\n<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old announced his decision in an emotional video posted on social media, bringing an end to a 23-year international career in which he scored a record 146 goals in 234 appearances for Portugal.\n<\/p>\n

Read Also: Cristiano Ronaldo: Seven defining career moments<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

Taking to Instagram, Infantino said Cristiano Ronaldo had touched the hearts of football fans across the world through his extraordinary talent, determination and constant desire to push the boundaries of the sport.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cFew players have ever touched the hearts of football fans around the world quite like Cristiano Ronaldo,\u201d Infantino wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cA career defined by extraordinary talent, relentless determination and an unwavering desire to push the boundaries of what is possible.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Read Also: Cristiano Ronaldo ends Portugal career with 234 caps and 146 goals<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

The FIFA president also highlighted Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s remarkable World Cup record, noting that he remains the first player in history to score in six different editions of the tournament. Ronaldo is also the all-time leading goalscorer in men\u2019s international football.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the first player in history to score in six different editions of the World Cup and the all-time leading goalscorer in men\u2019s international football, Cristiano has achieved milestones that may never be matched, but his greatest legacy goes far beyond records, trophies and goals,\u201d he added.\n<\/p>\n

Read Also: Closing in on immortality: Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s 1,000-goal career milestone comes into sight<\/a><\/p>\n

Ronaldo\u2019s 23-year Portugal career<\/h3>\n

Cristiano Ronaldo made his senior debut for Portugal in August 2003 and went on to become the country\u2019s most capped player and record goalscorer. He captained Portugal to their maiden UEFA European Championship title in 2016 before leading them to UEFA Nations League glory in 2019.\n<\/p>\n

Across five World Cup appearances and six European Championships, the forward became the face of Portuguese football, inspiring generations of players and supporters.\n<\/p>\n

Infantino further credited Cristiano Ronaldo with uniting millions of fans and carrying the hopes of Portugal on football\u2019s biggest stages.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has inspired generations, united millions of fans and carried the hopes and pride of Portugal onto the world\u2019s greatest stages,\u201d he wrote.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, Cristiano, for the passion, the unforgettable moments and the immense contribution you have made to our beautiful game proudly wearing the \u2018Sele\u00e7\u00e3o\u2019 shirt. Your international career will forever be part of football\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his retirement announcement, Ronaldo said he was proud of the journey he had undertaken with Portugal, describing representing his country as the greatest victory of his career.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, I realise that the greatest victory was to have deserved to represent the best country in the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

Related News<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAnthony Nlebem<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Head of Sports at BusinessDay Media, a seasoned Digital Content Producer, and FIFA\/CAF Accredited Journalist with over a decade of sports reporting.Has a deep understanding of the Nigerian and global sports landscape and skills in delivering comprehensive and insightful sports content.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Businessday NG<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gianni Infantino, FIFA president, has paid tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo following the Portuguese forward\u2019s announcement of his retirement from international football, describing his achievements as milestones that \u201cmay never be… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11848,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}