Cristiano Ronaldo has been branded the ‘flop of the World Cup’ by German legend Lothar Matthaus.
Matthaus won the World Cup as a player in 1990 with Germany and held the record for most appearances at the finals – until Lionel Messi broke it in 2022.
In a column for German newspaper BILD, Matthaus hit out at Ronaldo, who left Manchester United shortly before the World Cup started.
Matthaus said he felt ‘sad’ for Ronaldo, feeling he has damaged his legacy with his poor tournament.
‘Flop of the World Cup’
Matthaus, 61, says Ronaldo is his ‘flop of the World Cup’ for the way he underwhelmed in Qatar.
Ronaldo scored just one goal, from the penalty spot, in Portugal’s opening game against Ghana.
He was dropped from the Portugal starting line-up for the knockout stages, appearing as a substitute, with Portugal knocked out by Morocco in the quarter-finals.
While Lionel Messi went on to win the tournament with Argentina, Ronaldo ends without a World Cup knockout goal, ever.
Matthaus told BILD: “Cristiano Ronaldo is of course the big flop of this World Cup, the opposite of Messi. He has damaged the team and himself with his ego trip.
“He was once a great footballer, a world-class goalscorer. Now he has permanently damaged this monument. I can’t imagine him finding another club. Somehow I feel sorry for Ronaldo.”
Ronaldo came into Qatar in turmoil, after blowing up his Manchester United career.
But the reasons for his downfall at United were all performance-related, he scored just one Premier League goal in 520 minutes of football this season, and his wastefulness cost United top spot in the Europa League group.
He could not accept that he was not first choice, and this drama has continued at the Portuguese national team. It was not at all surprising.
Ronaldo will have a distant hope of appearing at World Cup 2026, but he needs to find some stability at club level, and earn a call-up on merit, not reputation.
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