From "talk to Queiroz" to the Copenhagen crisis: the other side of the Ronaldo and Portugal story

Across 23 years in a Portugal shirt, Cristiano Ronaldo lived unforgettable moments. His international career was never short of controversy either, some of it tied to coaches, some to flare-ups on the pitch, and even to the captain's armband.

The latest chapter unfolded on Portugal's trip to Norway in the Nations League. The game ended in a Portuguese win, before the crisis reignited when Ronaldo walked out of the team's camp in Copenhagen on the eve of the clash with Denmark.

In Oslo, Ronaldo spent the entire match on the bench. It was the first time in 6,678 days he had failed to make the starting line-up for the national team. At the final whistle he went straight down the tunnel, skipping the salute to the fans and the celebrations on the pitch with his teammates.

This was hardly the first time Ronaldo had sat at the heart of a storm during a career spanning 234 caps for Portugal.

With Ronaldo announcing his retirement from international football today, Thursday, we look back at the most prominent crises the Don lived through with the national team.

"Talk to Carlos Queiroz"

Ronaldo got on relatively smoothly with Luiz Felipe Scolari, who led Portugal between 2003 and 2008. Things turned tenser under Carlos Queiroz, in charge from 2008 to 2010.

The first cracks appeared on 12 August 2009, when Ronaldo missed a friendly against Liechtenstein with flu. The tension peaked a year later, during Portugal's 2010 World Cup campaign.

During the round-of-16 meeting with Spain on 29 June 2010, the television cameras picked up clear signs of Ronaldo's displeasure at some of Queiroz's decisions. Then David Villa scored the winner in the 63rd minute, ending Portugal's tournament.

Asked to explain the elimination, the then Real Madrid star delivered a phrase that became one of his most famous lines with the national team: "Talk to Carlos Queiroz".

Queiroz left the post in September 2010. His successor, Paulo Bento, later admitted the relationship with Ronaldo soured over time.

Bento told "Antena 1" in May: "If you ask me whether the relationship was as it was in the beginning, the answer is no. And if maintaining the relationship required me to abandon my principles... then no. There must be hierarchies and they must be respected".

A microphone in the lake: the start of another chapter

Under Fernando Santos, Ronaldo returned to the headlines, this time off the pitch.

On 22 June 2016, hours before the decisive clash with Hungary in the final round of the group stage at the European Championship in Lyon, Ronaldo hurled a microphone belonging to the channel "CMTV" into one of the lakes.

That tournament ended in the best possible way for Ronaldo and Portugal. They were crowned champions, and he deepened his bond with Santos by winning the UEFA Nations League in 2019.

None of that stopped controversy returning in 2021, when Ronaldo lived two emotional incidents within three months, both involving the captain's armband.

The first came on 27 March, during Serbia's meeting with Portugal in 2022 World Cup qualifying. Ronaldo struck the ball in the final moments, convinced it had crossed the line, but the referee ruled otherwise.

Portugal's captain protested furiously and picked up a yellow card. He then stormed off, throwing the armband onto the pitch before heading for the dressing rooms.

Three months later, on 27 June, the scene repeated itself during Portugal's defeat to Belgium in the round of 16 at Euro 2020.

At the final whistle, Ronaldo marched towards the tunnel of the "La Cartuja" stadium in Seville, dropped the captain's armband on the ground and booted it, before a member of the support staff stepped in.

The 2022 World Cup: a new clash with Fernando Santos

A year and a half on, Portugal returned to a major tournament. Controversy stayed close to Ronaldo.

In the final group-stage game of the 2022 World Cup, against a South Korea side led by Paulo Bento, Ronaldo started with Portugal having already booked their place in the next round.

Fernando Santos pulled his captain off in the 66th minute. Ronaldo did not take it well, sulking through the closing minutes on the bench.

He dropped out of the starting line-up for the following match against Switzerland. Gonçalo Ramos took his place and scored a hat-trick in a crushing 6-1 win, then kept his spot for the next match against Morocco.

Ronaldo came on in the 51st minute against Morocco but could not rescue Portugal from a 0-1 defeat, Fernando Santos's final match in charge.

In November 2023, Santos told "A Bola" that his "very strong" relationship with Ronaldo took a heavy blow after the Switzerland game.

He said: "It is true that on the morning of the match, when I explained to him that he would not play and why he would not play, he misunderstood the matter. Do I understand his reaction? Yes, I understand it!".

Calm before the return of controversy

Roberto Martínez took over after Santos's departure. For two years he kept a close and calm relationship with Ronaldo, before the captain returned to the eye of the storm once again.

On 13 November 2025, Ronaldo saw red during the clash with Ireland, a 2-0 win for Portugal, after he struck one of the opposition players in a match that could have sealed Portugal's qualification for the 2026 World Cup.

Portugal booked their place in the following round against Armenia, a crushing 9-1 win, a match Ronaldo missed at the "Do Dragão" stadium.

As the years added up, Ronaldo's role at the 2026 World Cup drew fresh criticism. Matters seemed to be settling after the appointment of Jorge Jesus, with whom Ronaldo had worked last season.

Recent events complicated the picture again. It began with the controversy over Ronaldo's standing within the national team, ran through his walkout from Portugal's camp in Copenhagen on the eve of the Denmark clash, and ended with his suspension and then his announcement of international retirement.