Cristiano Ronaldo has been sent home by Portugal following his red card against the Republic of Ireland on Thursday.
The former Real Madrid star received his marching orders on the hour mark, his first dismissal of his international career, having elbowed Ireland defender Dara O’Shea, as the Selecao crashed to a surprise 2-0 defeat at the Aviva Stadium.
Despite the loss, Portugal remain top of World Cup qualifying Group F and would be eaget to put the loss behind them when they face Armenia on Sunday afternoon.
According to Portuguese publication A Bola, Ronaldo won’t be hanging around to watch the game at the Estadio do Dragao in Porto after he was ‘released from the national team’.
Ronaldo’s red card was met with disbelief by the experienced striker, who turned to sarcastically applaud the home crowd before trudging towards the tunnel.
Cristiano Ronaldo remonstrates with Republic of Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson after he was shown a red card during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group F Qualifier match between Republic of Ireland and Portugal (Photo By Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez came to the defence of Ronaldo after Thursday’s defeat and argued that the captain’s outburst was not ‘violent’. “Of course, we spoke I think it’s difficult for a player like Cristiano, who’s in the box. And today he had two defenders constantly in physical contact,” Martinez said.
“There’s no violence. He tries to push the defender away and he was unlucky that the VAR… the angle of the images [makes it look] worse than what happened. It’s Ronaldo’s first red card for the national team, it’s incredible.”
A straight red card on the international stage tends to carry a two-match ban, which means Ronaldo may miss Portugal’s World Cup opener if they to get the job done against Armenia and avoid qualifying via the play-offs.
Portugal are favourite to finish top of Group F on Sunday as they gear up to take on Armenia on home turf. Armenia have lost four of their five World Cup qualifiers, including a resounding 5-0 loss to Martinez’s men at the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium back in September.
Ronaldo scored twice in that resounding victory, while Joao Felix – twice – and Joao Cancelo also got on the scoresheet earlier in the year.
