Sports 6 July 2026

Ronaldo confirms 2026 is his last World Cup: "enjoy it"

On the eve of Portugal vs Spain, Cristiano Ronaldo confirmed this is his final World Cup. At 41, the captain is saying goodbye to football's biggest stage.

The mystery is over. At the pre-match press conference ahead of Portugal vs Spain in Dallas, Cristiano Ronaldo confirmed what half the world suspected and he himself had never quite said out loud: the 2026 World Cup will be the last of his career. “It will be my last World Cup, yes. It’s about enjoying it,” the captain told an Argentine journalist, smiling.

What exactly did Ronaldo say?

Ronaldo confirmed this is his final World Cup, while making a point of stressing that the decision about the end of his career remains his alone: “I will finish, as I said years ago, when I want — not when you want.” The tone was light — there were jokes and playful jabs at reporters — but the message was unmistakable. And he left one wish, spoken with the urgency of knockout football: “Hopefully tomorrow is not my last game at a World Cup.”

What did Ronaldo say about leaving with a clear conscience?

That he leaves at peace, whatever happens. “I’m going to be perfectly honest: regardless of what happens tomorrow, Cristiano is going to be 1000 percent leaving with a clear conscience,” he said. And he explained why: “I have given all I could to football. It’s my passion to play for so many years. I didn’t do it out of need — it’s about passion.” At 41, the captain wanted it on the record that he is still playing because he wants to, not because he has to.

🗣️ "It's about passion", Cristiano Ronaldo. 🇵🇹#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/qSvCxBLMEN
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 5, 2026

Why does this announcement matter so much?

Because it closes an era that began in 2006. This is Ronaldo’s sixth World Cup, an outright record for an outfield player, and at 41 the captain is still the face of the national team. Every Portugal game in this tournament now carries extra weight: it could be the last on this stage for the highest scorer in international football history — at the one tournament that always eluded him.

The answer comes today, against Spain, in the round of 16. If Portugal go through, the farewell is postponed another round. If not, Dallas enters history for reasons no Portuguese fan wants to imagine.

By Vasco Almada

Image: YantsImages / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sports 4 September 2026

Seven years, 278 games, and a fee Arsenal will not name

Arsenal's statement on Gabriel Martinelli's move to Al-Hilal counts the appearances and the trophies and stops there. The 60 million pounds everyone is printing is reported, not confirmed.

Gabriel Martinelli has left Arsenal after seven years. The club confirmed the permanent transfer to Al-Hilal in a statement that adds up his time in north London — 278 appearances, 62 goals, last season's Premier League title, the 2020 FA Cup, the 2023 Community Shield. What the statement does not add up is the money. No figure, no valuation, not even the usual line about undisclosed terms. He arrived from Ituano in July 2019 as a teenager nobody outside…

Sports 3 September 2026

Jorge Jesus starts with Wales at Alvalade (and three more games inside eleven days)

Portugal host Wales on 24 September, travel to Norway on the 27th and Denmark on 1 October, then face Norway again in Porto on the 4th. UEFA merged the September and October windows into one block.

Jorge Jesus's first outing as Portugal manager will not be a match. It will be four of them, packed into eleven days, because UEFA has merged what used to be the separate September and October international windows into a single block. It opens on 24 September at home to Wales, at the Estádio José Alvalade. Three days later Portugal travel to Norway. On 1 October they play Denmark away, and on the 4th they host Norway again, this time at the Estádio do…

Sports 1 September 2026

Portugal has one man left at the US Open. He plays the defending champion next

Nuno Borges went out in the first round to Learner Tien, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2, in 99 minutes. That leaves Jaime Faria alone in the singles draw, with Carlos Alcaraz waiting in round two.

Ninety-nine minutes, and barely an argument in any of them. Nuno Borges, the world number 41 and Portugal's leading man, lost his opening match at the US Open to American Learner Tien 6-4, 6-1, 6-2. In his last nine Grand Slam appearances he had never gone out in the first round before. The match turned on one game. Borges was broken serving to stay in the opening set, and everything he normally leans on went with it: 53% of first serves in, and a…

Sports 31 August 2026

Four days to go: if your club's signing isn't on the Liga's list, he can't play

Portugal's summer window shuts at 23:59 on Friday 4 September. Clubs in European competition run out of time two days earlier, and one narrow loan exception stretches to the 8th.

Announcing a player and being allowed to field him are two different things, and the gap between them is a list. Liga Portugal publishes and updates the official registrations for every Liga Portugal Betclic club>), and that document, rather than the club's announcement or the unveiling video, decides who is available at the weekend. Names can be added to it until 23:59 on Friday 4 September.

Sports 30 August 2026

Porto put the game away before half-time in Viseu and stay top with a perfect record

André Silva, Gabri Veiga and William Gomes scored inside 38 minutes. Porto have 12 points from four matches and lead Sporting by two.

Saturday's game at the Estádio Municipal do Fontelo was over by the interval. Porto beat Académico de Viseu 3-0 in matchday four of Liga Portugal Betclic, and all three goals arrived in the first half. André Silva scored after five minutes, in a move the home side wanted pulled back for a foul until VAR waved it on. Gabri Veiga made it two on 20 minutes, again after a check, this time for a possible offside that was ruled legal. William Gomes finished a…

Sports 28 August 2026

Torreense have never played in Europe. They start with Olympiacos, Celtic and Sunderland at home

Friday's draw in Monaco handed the Portuguese cup holders four heavyweight home ties and away trips to Spain, Hungary, Poland and Norway. Benfica got Milan away and AZ Alkmaar at home.

A second-tier Portuguese club will host Olympiacos, Celtic and Sunderland this season. The Europa League league-phase draw, made in Monaco on Friday, finished the set by sending Ararat-Armenia to Torres Vedras as well. The away half is no gentler: Real Sociedad, Ferencváros, Lech Poznań and Lillestrøm. Eight matches, eight countries, and not one of them a fixture Torreense have played before. Winning the Taça de Portugal opened the door. Pot 4 did the…

Bar chart of clubs per country in the 2026/27 Champions League league phase: England 5, Spain 5, Italy 4, Germany 4, France 3, Portugal 2

Sports 27 August 2026

The Champions League draw gave Sporting a home tie with Barcelona and Porto a trip to Anfield

Both Portuguese clubs now know their eight league-phase opponents. Sporting host Barcelona and Manchester United at Alvalade; Porto host Manchester City and Napoli and travel to Liverpool. Kick-off times are due by Saturday.

The opponents are out. The league phase draw was made late on Thursday afternoon at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, and all 36 clubs learned the eight fixtures that will carry them from September to January. Porto will host Manchester City, PSV, Napoli and Slavia Prague at the Dragão, and travel to Liverpool, Real Betis, Feyenoord and LASK. Anfield is the tie of their season.

Sports 25 August 2026

Gabri Veiga and Borja Sainz sink Arouca as Porto keep a perfect start

Porto beat Arouca 2-0 at the Dragão on 23 August in matchday three of Liga Portugal. Veiga scored on 67 minutes, Sainz on 86, and the champions now have nine points from nine.

The Dragão had to wait until the second half, but it got what it came for. Porto beat Arouca 2-0 on Sunday 23 August in matchday three of Liga Portugal, taking their tally to nine points from a possible nine. Gabri Veiga broke the game open on 67 minutes. Borja Sainz added the second on 86, by which point Arouca had pushed their line up and left room behind it. Between the two goals sits nearly twenty minutes of a match Porto controlled without ever…

Portuguese canoeist Ana Brito waves from her kayak in Portugal's colours on the Mar Piccolo course in Taranto

Sports 23 August 2026

Ana Brito wins the K1 500 to give Portugal a fifth gold in Taranto

The canoeist won in 2:00.73 and closed Portugal's canoeing programme at the Mediterranean Games with two golds and two silvers. The team has eight medals after three days.

Ana Brito won the K1 500 metres at the Mediterranean Games in Taranto on Sunday in 2:00.73. Cyprus's Savvia Hadjicharalambous finished 1.46 seconds back and Serbia's Zsofi Horvat took bronze at 1.86. It is Portugal's fifth title of these Games and canoeing's second. The first came from Bruno Brasileiro in the K1 1,000, led from start to finish in 3:48.79. Portugal's three other champions so far came from elsewhere: cyclist Tiago Antunes in the time trial,…

Sports 22 August 2026

Ronaldo has scored in 25 seasons in a row, one more than Ibrahimovic managed

He came off the bench at Al Riyadh on 62 minutes with Al Nassr three up, and made it four. It was career goal number 977, and his first outing since the World Cup.

The run started in 2002-03, at a Sporting side that had no real idea what it had on its hands. Twenty-five seasons later Cristiano Ronaldo scored again as Al Nassr won at Al Riyadh, and became the only footballer to have scored in 25 consecutive campaigns. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who held the mark, managed 24 of them between 1999 and 2022-23. The match was already settled by the time he appeared. He came on after 62 minutes with Al Nassr 3-0 up through…

Chart showing clubs entered in European competition by country: England 9, Spain 8, Germany 7 and Portugal 5

Sports 21 August 2026

Why five Portuguese clubs can outscore eight Spanish ones in UEFA's season table

UEFA divides a country's European points by the number of clubs it entered. Portugal entered five, Spain entered eight, and on Thursday night that arithmetic flipped the standings.

A Thursday night of European qualifiers does not usually move continental tables. This one did, and the reason has nothing to do with football. It is a division sum. After Benfica beat Aarhus 3-1 and Braga saw off Austria Wien 2-0, Portugal moved ahead of Spain in UEFA's season ranking. Getafe won at home to Partizan the same night. It was not enough. The rule sits in Annex D of the club competition regulations. A country's season coefficient adds up the…

Tugadaily bar chart of the two first legs played in Portugal on 20 August 2026, Benfica 3-1 Aarhus and Braga 2-0 Austria Wien, with each side’s goals as a bar

Sports 21 August 2026

Benfica beat Aarhus 3-1, Braga see off Austria Wien 2-0

Both Portuguese clubs won the home leg of their European play-offs on Thursday. Rafa, Barreiro and Pavlidis scored at the Luz, Pau Víctor and Diego Rodrigues did the job in Braga, and both return legs are away on 27 August.

Thursday went the way both Portuguese clubs needed it to. Benfica took Aarhus apart 3-1 at the Estádio da Luz, and Sporting de Braga beat Austria Wien 2-0 at home. Neither tie is finished. Both are now leaning heavily one way. Benfica settled theirs early. Rafa scored inside two minutes, Leandro Barreiro made it two on 31, and Vangelis Pavlidis converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time — the club has posted the goal on its own channel. Sebastian…

Sports 20 August 2026

Formula E is moving to Disney+ across 144 territories, Portugal included

From the 2026/27 season the championship streams on Disney+ in most international markets and on ESPN+ in the United States. Dazn has confirmed it holds Portuguese rights only until the end of this season. António Félix da Costa is still on the grid.

Anyone in Portugal who follows Formula E on Dazn will be changing apps. From the 2026/27 season, the FIA world championship streams on Disney+ across most international markets, Portugal among them, and alongside ESPN+ in the United States. Dazn, which held the Portuguese rights, has confirmed it carries the series only to the end of this season. The deal is multi-year and spans 144 territories. Subscribers are promised the full race weekend: practice,…

Bar chart of sets won and lost by Portugal at the 2019 women's volleyball European Championship: one won, fifteen lost

Sports 20 August 2026

Portugal open the women's volleyball Euros against co-hosts Azerbaijan in Baku

The national team start on Friday in the Azeri capital. It is only Portugal's second appearance at a European Championship, and Pool C also holds the Netherlands and Belgium.

Portugal's women's volleyball team begin their European Championship on Friday in Baku, against Azerbaijan. It is only the second time the side has reached the tournament and the first in seven years, and the opener falls straight against one of the countries hosting it. The final stage is spread across four nations, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Turkey and Azerbaijan, with 24 teams in four pools. The top four in each group go through to the round of 16.…