Portuguese football icon Cristiano Ronaldo brushed off talk of scoring his 1000th career goal in the World Cup final with trademark humour, saying reporters have been “watching too many movies.”
Whenever he steps into the field, all eyes are on him and this time, the Portuguese captain seems to be using that attention to his advantage. Speaking at a press conference ahead of Portugal’s World Cup qualifier against Ireland in Dublin, the 40-year-old forward said he expects the home crowd to boo him and he’s fine with it.
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“The stadium will boo me, I’m used to it. I certainly hope they do — maybe it will take the pressure off other players,” Ronaldo said on Wednesday.
Portugal will seal qualification for the 2026 World Cup with a victory in Dublin. Ronaldo, who currently plays for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, has scored 953 career goals so far and remains the all-time leading men’s international goalscorer with 143 goals.
‘Let’s take it step by step’
When asked if he imagined reaching his 1000th goal on football’s biggest stage, Ronaldo responded with a laugh:
“You’ve been watching too many movies — that would be too perfect. Getting back to reality, all this data makes me happy. A national team never depends on one player, but I like being able to make a difference with goals.”
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner added that he is focused on qualification rather than individual milestones.
“It’s always good to score goals — that’s my position. I want to play in this next World Cup, otherwise I wouldn’t be here. But let’s take it step by step,” he said.
‘Maybe later I’ll speak more clearly about the future’
Ronaldo, who has previously hinted that the 2026 World Cup could be his last, said he doesn’t want to dwell on retirement talk just yet.
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“There’s no point in being repetitive and losing focus. Maybe later on I’ll give more interviews and speak more clearly about what I think for the future, but Portugal has another opportunity to be in another finals,” he said.
Portugal currently tops Group F of the European qualifiers, five points clear with two matches remaining.
