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Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal's 146-goal record holder, leaves national team
The 41-year-old captain of Portugal announced his departure from the national team in a video in which he read a farewell letter to the fans. Ronaldo leaves as the men's international game's top scorer and record appearance holder, with 146 goals in 234 matches since August 2003.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo announced the end of his career with the national team. On Thursday, November 5, the 41-year-old forward published an almost five-minute video on Instagram in which he read a farewell letter to the Portuguese people and returned the number 7 shirt he had worn for 23 years. He leaves as the men's international game's record holder in two categories: 146 goals and 234 appearances for his national team—more than any other player in international football.
The decision applies only to the national team: Ronaldo will continue playing for Saudi club Al-Nassr. Portugal's Record newspaper noted that the announcement came a day before head coach Jorge Jesus was due to name the squad for the upcoming Nations League matches. In the caption accompanying the post, Ronaldo wrote: “Portugal will always be in me.”
In the video, Ronaldo sits on a sofa in a white shirt and reads the letter from sheets of paper. His voice plays over archive footage of national-team matches and stands where fans in national colors celebrate goals; the video has English subtitles. The message begins with the words, “The day has come to return the number 7 shirt,” and ends with thanks for 23 years and a promise to continue supporting every Portugal victory alongside the fans.
“Records are eventually broken”: what Ronaldo's letter said
The greatest record holder in international football says little about records in the letter. “Goals are forgotten, cups remain in museums, records are eventually broken,” Ronaldo writes, naming as most important the one thing time cannot erase: a place in people's hearts. He recalls emigrants for whom 90 minutes of a national-team match made Portugal “a little closer,” admits that there were moments when he could not give fans what they wanted so much, and addresses young players, without whom, he says, the country cannot do without. He also has special words for his teammates, coaches and staff, “who were never in the photographs,” as well as his family. The letter's conclusion is devoted to singing the national anthem before matches: in those moments, Ronaldo writes, clubs, colors and classes disappear, leaving “only one passion—Portugal.”
Below is the full text of the letter, translated from Portuguese.
To the Portuguese people.
The day has come to return the number 7 shirt of our shared national team. I never considered it mine alone. But for 23 years, I had the privilege and responsibility of wearing it, defending it and taking it with me to stadiums around the world. Today, the time has come to pass it on to the future. This decision was not easy, because some decisions are made not only with the mind but also with the heart.
A journey that began in August 2003 and forever changed my life is coming to an end. When I look back and think about everything I experienced with the national team, I see not only matches, goals, records or trophies. I see people. I see emigrants who felt Portugal a little closer for 90 minutes.
I see millions of Portuguese people whom I never knew personally but who became part of my life. Because ultimately, football is much more than a game. Football is people. Throughout my national-team career, I tried to push beyond my own limits. I wanted to win, I wanted to be the best, I wanted to make history.
I have always demanded a lot of myself. I always wanted more, always believed that we could go further. And I gave this shirt everything I had. There were perfect days and evenings, victories I will never forget. There were defeats that still hurt to remember. I made mistakes too, I suffered too, and there were moments when I could not give the Portuguese people what they wanted so much. But I never gave up. Above all, I never stopped being proud to represent Portugal.
Over these years, I learned some very simple things. Goals are forgotten, cups remain in museums, records are eventually broken. But there is something time cannot erase—the place we occupy in people's hearts. If I made you happy even once, if one of my goals ever made you hug someone, forget your worries or simply feel proud of our country, then it was all worthwhile. Because being Portuguese is exactly that. We suffer together, we rise together.
And we believe again. Portugal will always need young people who dream, players who never give up, and new generations who believe it is possible to reach places no one has reached before. Because a country that continues to produce new heroes is a country that never stops believing in itself.
To my national-team teammates, I want to say a special word of thanks. Thank you for every run, every embrace, every argument, every minute of silence before taking the field. For every victory we celebrated together and every defeat that made us stronger. It was an honor to be your captain. But no captain walks alone. And you are part of my story.
To all the coaches, executives, doctors, physiotherapists, kit managers, staff and the many people who worked with me over all these years—my thanks. Many of you were never in these photographs. But without you, none of these photographs would have been possible.
To my family—thank you for sharing this dream with me. Thank you for understanding my absences, sacrifices and the moments when the national team took the place that also belonged to you. If I came this far, it is because we always walked hand in hand.
And to the Portuguese people, all Portuguese people, wherever in the world they live, I want to say one last thing. There is an image I will always carry with me: the moment when the national anthem plays. I look around, see my teammates, see the stands, see children, mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers. I see Portuguese people who came from far away just to be there. And in those moments, we stop being different. There are no clubs, no colors, no classes, no professions, no differing opinions. There is only one passion. Portugal.
That is the feeling I will carry throughout my life. Today, my journey on the field with the national team comes to an end. I leave with my head held high, proud of the path I have taken and aware that I gave Portugal everything I had. But I will never stop being one of you. I will continue to support, root for and celebrate every Portugal victory with you.
I devoted my life to becoming the best footballer in the world. Today, I understand that the greatest victory was earning the right to represent the best country in the world. Thank you for these 23 years. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for allowing me to live a dream that began when I was just a boy in Madeira chasing a ball. The number 7 remains, and the pride of having worn it will remain with me forever. Portugal will always be in me.
Forever.
Cristiano Ronaldo
146 goals, 234 appearances and 23 years with Portugal
Ronaldo made his national-team debut on August 20, 2003, in a friendly against Kazakhstan, when he was 18. He scored his first goal a year later at Euro 2004 on home soil, where Portugal reached the final. On September 1, 2021, after scoring twice against Ireland in World Cup qualifying, he broke Iranian Ali Daei's record of 109 goals and became the top scorer in the history of men's national teams. In June 2023, he became the first player in the world to make 200 appearances for a national team. Ronaldo is the only footballer to have played at six European Championships (2004–2024), and he is the tournament's all-time top scorer with 14 goals.
He won three trophies with Portugal. In 2016, the national team became European champions for the first time in its history, defeating the tournament hosts France in the final in Saint-Denis (1–0 in extra time), although the captain himself left the field in the first half because of an injury. Two Nations League victories followed, in 2019 and 2025, when Ronaldo equalized against Spain in the final in Munich and Portugal won in a penalty shootout. The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) responded briefly to the captain's announcement: “Thank you for everything, captain!”
Conflict with Jesus and the letter that awaited its moment
The announcement followed a conflict with Jorge Jesus during the previous international window. Sky Sports wrote that on September 27, Ronaldo remained on the bench for the entire match in Portugal's 2–1 away win over Norway, then left the team's base in Copenhagen on the eve of the Nations League match against Denmark. Ronaldo said the coach had promised to bring him on for 30 minutes; Jesus denied that such an agreement existed.
At the beginning of October, Ronaldo published an almost 2,000-word statement on Instagram: he apologized for leaving the national-team camp and for not applauding the fans who had traveled to support the team, asked the federation to punish him without mitigating circumstances, but assured fans that he was not leaving the national team. At the same time, he revealed that he had written the farewell letter to the Portuguese people after the 2026 World Cup and had kept it until the day of his final departure. After the tournament, on a flight from North America, federation president Pedro Proença persuaded him to abandon the decision. A month later, Ronaldo read the letter after all.
Video: Cristiano Ronaldo / Instagram. Photos: social media; cover—Ludovic Péron / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
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