Wednesday, October 7, 2026 -Superstar footballer Cristiano Ronaldo hit back at Portugal manager Jorge Jesus for “breaking his word”, which prompted him to walk out on the national team.
The dispute between Ronaldo and Jesus began last week after
the Portugal coach left the 41-year-old forward on the bench for Portugal’s
first-ever win over Norway, marking the first time Ronaldo had been benched in
18 years of international duty, excluding occasions when he was injured or
suspended.
The decision was followed by Ronaldo missing three training
sessions and subsequently leaving Portugal’s camp ahead of the team’s final two
matches of the international break, reportedly departing by private jet.
In a bombshell statement, Ronaldo detailed what he described
as “broken promises” by 72-year-old Jesus, apologised to “the Portuguese
people” and his teammates, acknowledged that he could face punishment, and
stressed that he remains available to play whenever he is called upon.
Ronaldo claims the Portuguese FA persuaded him not to retire
after the World Cup and asked his opinion on candidates to replace the outgoing
Roberto Martinez.
The veteran forward says he spoke in terms about Jesus, who
he worked under at Al-Nassr.
Ronaldo claims Jesus had promised him 30 minutes at the end
of Portugal’s 2-1 Nations League victory over Norway, only for him to remain on
the bench throughout the match.
Ronaldo then claimed that he, Jesus, and Al-Nassr sporting
director Simao Coutinho agreed that the only resolution would be for Jesus to
explain what happened in a press conference.
However, Ronaldo said Jesus went off script at the press
conference, adding that he “heard expressions and an aggressiveness” that he
did not believe he deserved.
Read full statement below..
This is the truth on what has happened with Jorge Jesus
As I promised, I decided to recount, in the first person and
directly, the circumstances surrounding the last training camp of the National
Team.
After the 2026 World Cup I prepared a letter to the Portuguese people,
which I still keep, with the words I want to address to them when I leave our
team for good
At the end of the competition, already on the flight back
from the United States, the President of the Federation asked and insisted that
I reconsider the decision to leave, because the FPF wanted me to continue.
Right afterwards he asked me for my opinion on the name of
the current head coach, which he was considering alongside other names he did
not reveal to me.
I told the President of the Federation that, in my opinion,
it would be the right choice.
That is why, on the day the current head coach was
presented, I was genuinely happy with the choice. It was the right option, as
the results are confirming.
A few days later I received a first contact from the new
national team coach saying he would like to meet me in person. I said yes and
we scheduled it for the end of my holidays.
We met at the Cidade do Futebol, where my club was holding
its pre-season training camp.
That day the coach told me he was counting on me and that my
presence was fundamental to his project. He presented me, right there, with a
plan for my participation. He told me I would play the first match and the last
one, and that for reasons of physical management he would always make three to
four changes per match.
At that point he raised the possibility of me not travelling
with the national team to Norway and Denmark. He proposed that I play the first
match and stay in Portugal, then rejoin before the match at the Dragão.
I refused this proposal immediately. It seemed obvious to me
that I could not accept it. It was not because I would not play the matches
abroad that I would stop captaining our team. That privilege of staying in
Portugal would not be a good example.
The coach ended up agreeing with my analysis.
This conversation was attended by Simão Coutinho, sporting
director of Al Nassr, the person to whom the current coach reported throughout
last season and one of those responsible for his signing by the club in 2025.
On the eve of the start of the camp the coach came to my house in Lisbon, at his request, for another conversation with me. The conversation was calm and all the principles agreed in August were maintained.
I played the match at Alvalade and, although substituted, I made no problem of it. I put the armband on Bruno Fernandes myself, far from imagining that I might be taking my last steps as a player and captain of the National Team. What mattered to me that day was our victory. Winning is always good; in Portugal and for my country, even better.
At lunchtime on the day of the match in Norway, an
assistant to the coach came to the table where the group was having lunch and
informed me that the coach wanted to speak to me.
To my absolute surprise, the coach asked me if I was fit
to play 30 minutes. I was fully focused on my physical recovery, integrated
with my teammates as always, and thinking that I would not play that day.
Without any problem.
This request was something outside my physical recovery
and training plan — because I was only going to play on the 4th at the Dragão —
but of course I said yes. He replied that I should then be ready because I
would play 30 minutes.
The rest everyone knows. I warmed up from half-time, watched the minutes
go by, and was not called.
The coach had broken his word to me.
At the end of the match I only wanted everything to
finish with the victory and to be alone. I did not go to greet the fans. A
failing that is solely my responsibility and that should not have happened. I
apologise to the Portuguese who supported us intensely there, I apologise to
the fans, and I apologise to those who, without being Portuguese, may have
travelled there to see me and whom I may have disappointed.
Forty-eight hours later we had a conversation — myself,
the coach and Simão Coutinho — since he had been the one accompanying our
conversations in August. It was a deep moment, very frank, without any kind of
filter.
We agreed that there was only one way to close this
'case': that the coach repeat what he had just told me in private, in the
presence of Simão Coutinho, but in the press room.
What was agreed was simple: the coach would begin the
press conference with this subject, seeking to close the matter by telling the
truth. He would say that I never asked to play any minutes, that it was the
coach and no one else who proposed the plan for this camp to me, and that it
was a mistake to put me on to warm up and then not bring me on, and that if it
happened again he would not do it.
We ended that meeting with the coach asking me for a hug,
promising me that he would say at the conference what he had just said to me,
and that the matter would be overcome. I would not play in Denmark and I would
play the match at the Dragão. All of this in the presence of Simão Coutinho,
always.
At the coach's request, a meeting then took place between
himself, Simão Coutinho and Tiago Craveiro by video conference, in which what
we had discussed was summarised.
A short document was produced which I myself validated
and which, with my knowledge, was delivered to the coach, as he had requested.
The conference was what is known: the posture had nothing
to do with our meeting; I heard expressions and an aggressiveness that I do not
believe I deserved, an attitude of 'I want, I can and I command' that he never
showed me, not even remotely, in private the day before.
The notes I validated were the following:
'I think it is important, also because it is the truth,
to clarify a few things before talking about Denmark:
1. I myself, and no one else, proposed to Cristiano a
plan for him this sporting season with the National Team. It was a long and
very good conversation.
2. I know how much he lives and loves the national team
and the weight he has in the world, and even more the weight and the positive
influence he has had on the national team for 24 consecutive years.
3. The plan I proposed to Cristiano was accepted.
4. He never questioned my options. He was exemplary,
loyal and professional.
5. The match in Norway was not part of the plan I drew up
for him. However, I felt that he had managed to recover physically from the
first match and I warned him that I might have to use him. Cristiano agreed.
6. I made a mistake by putting someone of the stature of Pelé or Maradona
on to warm up and then not putting him in the game. If it were today I would
not do it.
7. To close the subject: I want Cristiano in the National
Team. In fact I do not want him a little, I want him a lot. Fortunately he also
believes in me. He believed at Al Nassr and he does here as well.
8. About not greeting the fans. We have already spoken
about that. Someone who has played more than 230 matches for the national team
does not receive lessons from me on love for Portugal. It was a moment of
frustration that erases nothing. He is the player who gives the most
autographs, takes the most selfies, and shows the most affection to the fans.
Let us not invent problems where they do not exist. When we are not happy we
react. That was all.
None of these notes, therefore, said that the coach
should even apologise to me.
It was the second time he had broken his word to me.
I decided to leave the camp without waiting for any
further breach of word. For me the truth is still the most important thing in
the relationship between people. However much it hurts, let them tell me the
truth.
In fact, in a conversation I had with the President of
the FPF and with the coach on the morning of the day of that press conference —
they can certainly confirm this — I reaffirmed that if they did not want me
there they should tell me. It was enough for them to be frank with me. I would
accept that and I promised that we would prepare something beautiful, as I
dream will happen, and no one would be left angry.
I remember it as if it were today. They replied in unison
that no. That my place was in the National Team.
Never, at any moment, have I interfered in any technical
or tactical decision of any coach or national team manager in almost 25 years
of career.
I accept, for better or worse, what they propose that I do. I respect the decision, and when they break their word to me, I feel that my place is not there.
I also owe an apology to my national team teammates for having left the camp.
Despite the absolute breach of trust in the coach's word,
as those who witnessed these conversations can attest, I should not have done
it. The responsibility is exclusively mine.
I apologise to the Portuguese people once again, but the
breaking of one's word has, for me, a defining impact. I felt that, from that
point on, my remaining would only harm the working group, and I did what I have
always said I would do if I did not feel useful: I packed my bags and left.
The consequence of this act of mine must be assessed and
punished by the Portuguese Football Federation. I understand that the
punishment should have no mitigating factors. I am not just any player; I am
team captain, and that constitutes an aggravating factor.
I have already apologised, but I know that attitudes must
have consequences. Anyone who is in football as I am knows that, regardless of
each person's status, the rules are the same for everyone.
On this subject, I have heard a great deal of talk about
farewell matches, that I must have a dignified farewell and that the Federation
wants to give me that opportunity.
I learned in life, often hungry and with nothing to eat,
that no one gives anything to anyone.
I can promise all my fans, naturally and especially all
Portuguese people, that we will have one or more farewell matches; there will
be time for that.
But when I think of the national team, what I really
think of is competing. That is what I thought on the day I was given the news
of my father's death.
I was at a camp with our national team and I decided to
stay there until the end of the match the following day. I did for the country
what I would never do for any club.
Therefore, if I am physically well, playing for my club, with goals I hope, after serving the suspension that may be applied to me, I will be available, as I have always been until today, to compete and win for our national team.
This is, believe me, the purest of truths.
Cristiano Ronaldo
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