For nearly two decades, Cristiano Ronaldo lived with a burden that very few athletes in any sport have had to carry.He spent most of his career measuring himself not against his contemporaries, but against his own past. Against a winger who broke through at Manchester United. Against an athlete who jumped higher than defenders and outplayed defenders. Against a machine that scored 50 goals every season almost as a routine. That standard has not changed. Only the player has.Which is perhaps why Portugal’s 1-1 draw against DR Congo in Houston quickly became less about the score and more about Ronaldo. Criticism came from all sides. Thierry Henry accused him of thinking about his own goal when Bruno Fernandes was in a better position. Paul Scholes described it as a ‘problem’. Chris Sutton has suggested that Roberto Martinez is too scared to replace him.The contrast with Lionel Messi only added to the noise.A day earlier, Messi scored three against Algeria. Kylian Mbappe announced himself with a brace. Harry Kane scored twice for England. Erling Haaland also scored. And there was Ronaldo. Three attempts. No shot on goal. No goals.Ronaldo’s performance sparked debate that the 41-year-old has become a problem compared to the younger stars who have shone at the FIFA World Cup.The numbers, however, paint a more complicated picture. Yes, no one needs numbers to tell them that Ronaldo had a bad night in front of goal, but football it has never been a game where attackers operate in isolation.What happens around them is almost as important as what they do themselves. Deeper data suggests Portugal’s biggest problem may not have been Ronaldo.According to FIFA’s post-match tracking reports, Ronaldo made 47 off-ball runs during the game — just behind Mbappe’s 50 and more than Harry Kane and Haaland combined. Yet Portugal found him passing just 10 times, meaning just 21.3 per cent of his runs were rewarded with possession.
Messi, by comparison, made 32 runs and received the ball on 16 occasions, which is a 50 percent success rate. Kane received four passes from 15 runs, while Haaland was found twice from eight runs.The numbers raise an uncomfortable question for Portugal: is Ronaldo too often ignored?The passing numbers tell their own story and perhaps explain why the direct comparison between Ronaldo and Messi has become increasingly false. Messi attempted 40 passes in Argentina’s first game, twice as many as Ronaldo, and completed 30 of them.The difference, however, is more about role than influence. Messi operated deeper, often breaking into midfield and acting as Argentina’s main creator. Ronaldo, meanwhile, attempted just 20 passes, the same as Harry Kane and more than Erling Haaland’s eight.More interestingly, he completed 19 of them, giving him a 95 percent success rate – the highest among the top five.
At 41, Ronaldo looks more and more like a penalty taker whose value lies in movement rather than orchestration.Haaland’s numbers offer perhaps the closest parallel. The Norwegian attempted just eight passes as Manchester City’s approach to him has long been built around service rather than inclusion.Ronaldo’s passing charge points in the same direction. He’s no longer trying to be the guy who touches the ball 50 times and runs the game.The challenge for Portugal is that while their captain has evolved into a specialist finisher, the team around him still seem caught between using him as a focal point and asking him to do things he no longer needs to do.Where criticism has weight, it is still ahead of the mark.Ronaldo’s three attempts failed to trouble the goalkeeper. Messi took six shots and four on target en route to his hat-trick. Mbappe hit the target with all four shots and scored twice, and Kane and Haaland also made the most of their opportunities.Physical data offer another fascinating insight.Ronaldo covered 8,389 meters during the game – more than Messi’s 6,808 meters – dismissing claims that he no longer deals with difficult yards. However, the numbers also reveal where age has caught up.
He only recorded 73 rushing yards at 25 mph or faster. Haaland managed to run 438 meters, Mbappe 225 and Kane 117. Ronaldo still has a speed of 30.7 km/h, but the repeated explosive bursts that once defined his game are becoming less frequent.What has changed is not his will to run. It’s the frequency with which he can produce those explosive bursts that once terrified defenders. Haaland covered six times the distance at top speed. Mbappe is in another category altogether.
And Portugal created very little all evening. Their expected goals tally was just 0.57, comfortably the lowest among the five teams led by global superstars in this comparison. Argentina scored three. France scored three. England scored four. Norway scored four.Portugal scored once in the opening minutes and spent much of the evening struggling to regain control. This was later admitted by Roberto Martinez himself.“We didn’t reach the final third at the level we needed to serve the attacker and take advantage of his movements,” he said.
Ronaldo’s finishing deserves attention, but the idea that he was unwilling to work does not support the data.He kept running. Portugal simply continued to look elsewhere.And as the World Cup has shown before, one quiet opening game rarely tells the whole story. Lionel Messi failed to score in Argentina’s first game in Qatar four years ago before lifting the trophy a few weeks later.
