World Cup: Portugal star Ronaldo shuns retirement, sets Euro 2024 target

Cristiano Ronaldo has no intention of retiring from international football and wants to play for Portugal at Euro 2024, according to reports.

The 37-year-old was dropped by Portugal boss Fernando Santos at the World Cup after he reacted angrily to being substituted in their group game against South Korea.

Santos left him out of their last-16 clash against Switzerland, which they won 6-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Ronaldo replacement Goncalo Ramos, and then again versus Morocco in the World Cup.

Some fans and former players were baffled by Santos’ decision to leave Ronaldo on the bench against Morocco as they lost 1-0 to crash out of the World Cup.

Ronaldo and the Portuguese FA had to deny reports that the former Manchester United striker ‘threatened to leave the national team’ after being dropped against Switzerland.

After the match against Morocco, Santos told reporters that he had “no regrets” about benching Ronaldo for the match: “No regrets. I think this was a team which played very well against Switzerland. Cristiano’s a great player. He came on when we thought that was necessary.”

And he seemed to hint that it could be the end of his time as a Portugal player on Instagram earlier this week when he wrote: “Winning a World Cup for Portugal was the biggest and most ambitious dream of my career. Fortunately I won many titles of international dimension, including Portugal, but putting our country’s name on the highest foot in the World was my biggest dream.