Cristiano Ronaldo was left heartbroken after his final shot at World Cup glory ended in defeat on Saturday night Portugal came up short in their quarter-final showdown with Morocco.
The 37-year-old saw his World Cup dreams end for good on Saturday night as Portugal was upset by Morocco in their quarter-final tournament.
The superstar knew the showpiece tournament in Qatar was his final opportunity to win the World Cup. And after guiding Portugal to European glory back in 2016, Cristiano Ronaldo was yearning for a fairytale ending to his glittering international career by emulating that feat with a maiden world crown.
But Morocco hadn’t read the script: they made history themselves at the Al Thumama Stadium, where Walid Regragui’s side became the first African nation to ever reach the semi-final stage of a World Cup courtesy of a solitary goal.
While Morocco celebrated, Ronaldo walked off the pitch alone and in tears. He had started the match on the bench, but with Portugal trailing, he was introduced from the bench just six minutes into the second half.
Ronaldo struggled to make an impact as Portugal went out with a whimper; he blew a golden chance to force extra time after shooting at Bono when through on a goal to cap a frustrating and innocuous cameo showing.
The result means that Ronaldo failed to score a single goal in the knockout stages of the World Cup during his storied career after blanking in eight games.
During those matches, played across five different tournaments, Ronaldo had a total of 27 shots without finding the net for his team.
While Ronaldo’s World Cup dream is over, his rival, Lionel Messi, still has a chance of lifting the coveted Jules Rimet trophy for the first time after Argentina booked their spot in the World Cup semi-finals 24 hours beforehand.
