41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo had a forgettable outing as Portugal were held for a 1-1 draw by Congo in their FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign opener in Houston on June 17. Portugal had a 75 per cent possession, considerably more than three times passes than Congo, but they had only three shots on target with two of them denied.
Ronaldo managed just 25 touches in the entire game including five inside the box. The number of touches in the encounter are second-fewest he has registered. He fought for the ball for a few times but won just once. He attempted to score three times. In the second half, he had two shots in a space of minutes but they went wide right of the goal post.
“It wasn't the start we wanted, but this is far from over,” Ronaldo wrote after the game. “Head up and focus on the next game.”
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Congo made an impressive return to World Cup after a long wait of 52 years. They followed Cape Verde's suit, holding a European giant to a draw in their first game.
All goes downhill after Neves’ early goal
Earlier, Portugal started well with a goal the in the sixth minute. Joao Neves beat the goalkeeper with a header off Pedro Neto's cross. During stoppage time in first half, Yoane Wissa scored the equaliser as he found the back of the net with a header off a cross from Arthur Masuaku.
The last time Congo participated in World Cup was in 1974. They were known as Zaire then. Unlike the game against Portugal, they had forgettable outings, conceding 2, 9 and 3 goals against Scotland, Yugoslavia and Brazil respectively.
In the 55th minute, it seemed that Joao Cancelo as helped Portugal take a lead. But, his bicycle kick goal was deemed illegitimate as he was offside. Portugal had a scare few minutes after as Cedric Bakambu's shot bounced off the near post. Bruno Fernandes also had a chance to save Portugal from a draw but his shot in the 90th minute went wide right as well.
Ronaldo achieves rare feats
Ronaldo couldn’t match Lionel Messi’s effort to score a hat-trick but he equalled his record of playing in most (six) World Cup editions. He also broke Canada's Atiba Hutchinson's record for oldest outfield player to start a game.
Ronaldo will have a chance to make amends for a poor start when Portugal face Uzbekistan on June 23.