Football Doesn’t Need Ronaldo At The 2026 World Cup – Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink

Cristiano Ronaldo will only retire when Lionel Messi stops, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has said. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.

According to him, Ronaldo is now tarnishing his legacy by refusing to retire from national team football, and the bitter truth is that football doesn’t need Ronaldo at the 2026 World Cup.

Jimmy added that CR7 is clearly doing himself more harm than good by playing for Portugal still.

His words, “Football doesn’t need Ronaldo at the 2026 World Cup. Ronaldo has been one of the best players for a long time; one of the best players in history. I think, at the moment, he’s doing himself more harm than good to be playing for Portugal still – it’s impacting his legacy.

And if you ask me, Messi or Ronaldo, I will always say Ronaldo because of what he had to do to get to that level and to stay there.

We all know as footballers, and I know this really, really well from my playing time, there’s a time when you come and there’s a time where you need to go. I think his time had come a while ago, and he needs to give somebody else the opportunity.

I don’t think that he is at the moment better than the other options that Portugal have. Some games you need to press, some games you need to do different things, and I don’t think that he can do that anymore. There’s no shame in that. For him to even be playing at 40 is a landmark in itself.

There comes a time when you have to hang the boots up. I think that time will come when Messi stops. I think when Messi decides to call it a day, so will Ronaldo.”

WOW.

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro GOIH ComM is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Saudi Pro League club, Al Nassr and the Portugal national team.

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born on 5 February 1985 in the São Pedro parish of Funchal, the capital of the Portuguese island of Madeira, and grew up in the nearby parish of Santo António. He is the fourth and youngest child of Maria Dolores dos Santos Viveiros da Aveiro, who worked as a cook in the hospitality industry and a cleaning woman, and José Dinis Aveiro, a municipal gardener at the Junta de Freguesia of Santo António and part-time kit man for football club Andorinha.

Ronaldo’s move to Manchester United was completed on 12 August 2003, too late for the 2003 FA Community Shield but in time for their game against Bolton Wanderers on the opening day of the 2003–04 season, and made him the first Portuguese player to sign for the club.

Ahead of the 2009–10 season, Ronaldo joined Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee at the time of £80 million (€94 million). His contract, which ran until 2015, was worth €11 million per year and contained a €1 billion buy-out clause.