Paul Scholes Questions Ronaldo's Role in Portugal's World Cup Ambitions
Paul Scholes believes Cristiano Ronaldo has become a problem Portugal can no longer ignore.
The former England and Manchester United midfielder says it is “not right” that a 41-year-old is still leading the line for a side with serious ambitions of lifting the World Cup, and admits he “feels sorry” for head coach Roberto Martinez, who appears trapped by the legend’s aura and history.
A flat night in Houston
Ronaldo made history in Houston, stepping onto the pitch for a sixth World Cup and matching Lionel Messi’s record. He wore the armband, led the team out, and stood at the centre of the story once again.
On the ball, though, he was a bystander.
Portugal started brightly. Joao Neves struck in the sixth minute, a sharp finish that should have set the tone for a comfortable evening against DR Congo. Martinez’s side controlled possession, dictated territory and looked, on paper at least, like the 2025 Nations League champions they are.
Then the game drifted.
Newcastle forward Yoane Wissa punished them just before half-time, snatching an equaliser against the run of play. Portugal never fully recovered their edge. They pushed, probed, and recycled the ball, but the winner never came. The game ended 1-1, a flat draw for a team touted among the favourites alongside France, Spain, England and reigning champions Argentina.
For Ronaldo, the numbers told their own story. No chances created. No shots. No successful dribbles. No duels won in a dismal first half. The kind of anonymous display that would see almost any other forward hooked early.
Martinez left him on until the final whistle.
Pedro Neto, Vitinha, Bernardo Silva, Tomas Araujo and Nuno Mendes all came off. Ronaldo stayed. The hierarchy was unmistakable.
Scholes: ‘He’s a concern’
Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, Scholes lifted the lid on a private conversation he once had with Martinez.
“I once had a conversation with Roberto Martinez off-camera during a Stick to Football session, where I inquired, ‘Is he a problem for you?’, as I feel he is somewhat of a concern,” Scholes revealed.
Scholes, who shared a dressing room with Ronaldo for six years at Old Trafford, didn’t dance around the age issue.
“At 41 years of age… I believe there is only one position on the field where a player of that age should be starting, and that is as a goalkeeper, in my opinion.”
The point was blunt. In a side that will eventually need to run, press and play in transition, Ronaldo’s presence at centre-forward becomes a tactical question, not just a sentimental one.
“Now look, he is going to score goals and he’s in a team that have a lot of possession, but once there’s a game where it has to be transition… and there will be games like that. His movement at 41 years of age…”
The sentence trailed off, but the implication was clear.
A legend, but not a starter?
Scholes argued that Ronaldo’s role should have already shifted.
“For me, he has to be a player for the last 15 minutes. For a 40 or 41-year-old to be playing centre-forward, I just don’t get it.
You might get away with it at centre-half, you might do in a team that keeps the ball and you probably get away with it as a goalkeeper, but as a centre-forward at 41… it’s not right.”
He pointed to Luka Modric, still pulling the strings for Croatia at 40, as another example of a great pushed to the limit of what is physically possible at the highest level.
“We saw it with Croatia and Luka Modric last night at 40 years old. Central midfield at 40…”
The problem for Portugal, Scholes suggested, is that the alternatives are not yet convincing enough to force a clean break.
“The trouble with Portugal is they haven’t really got an outstanding centre-forward anyway, have they? You’ve got to have somebody who runs,” he said.
So the temptation to keep turning back to Ronaldo remains. The name, the goals, the history. The fear of being the coach who benches a five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Martinez caught in the middle
Scholes’ sympathy for Martinez was genuine.
“I feel sorry for Martinez because he’s trying to embrace it and he’s saying, ‘No, I’ve got the best goalscorer in the world’, but deep down he must know that’s hurting his team.”
That tension played out in Houston. A coach with a deep, talented squad – packed with technical midfielders, dynamic wide players and emerging stars – still building his game plan around a forward who can no longer influence matches for 90 minutes as he once did.
And hanging over it all is the eternal comparison that has defined an era.
“Cristiano will be so pissed off because Lionel Messi got a hat-trick, Kylian Mbappe got two… it will be killing him,” Scholes said.
Ronaldo’s competitive fire has carried him to the top of the sport, kept him there for two decades and dragged teams with him. The question now is whether that same force, combined with his status, is stopping Portugal from evolving at the pace they need.
For Martinez, the decision is looming: does he keep living in the glow of the game’s greatest finisher, or does he risk everything by phasing him into a role off the bench, just when the stakes are highest?
