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Ronaldo says 2026 FIFA World Cup to be last of his career

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States

PARIS, November 11. /TASS/. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the last world championship for Portuguese superstar football forward Cristiano Ronaldo, French RMC sport radio station reported on Tuesday.

"To be honest, when I say ‘soon’ I mean probably one more year, maybe two," the French radio station quoted the world-renowned striker as saying about when he might retire.

The 40-year-old Ronaldo is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of football. His accolades include five Ballon d'Or awards, a record three UEFA Men's Player of the Year Awards, four European Golden Shoes, and being named the world's best player by FIFA five times.

He has won 34 trophies in his career, including seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues and the UEFA European Championship.

Ronaldo signed a three-year contract with Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr on December 30, 2022 for a record 200 million Euros per year (over $234,640 million).

The captain of the Portuguese national team, Ronaldo is also the first male player in the history of football to score 900 goals in official matches.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States. The matches will be played in 16 cities across the three countries. This will be the first FIFA World Cup featuring 48 teams compared to the previous 32-team format.

The Russian national football team is skipping the 2026 World Cup due to sanctions.

Russia’s football ban

The world’s governing football body, FIFA, announced on February 28, 2022, that the Russian national team and all professional clubs representing the country were barred from participating in FIFA tournaments.

In turn, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) made a similar decision regarding the Russian national football team’s participation in UEFA tournaments.

Both FIFA and UEFA cited Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as grounds for their respective bans on Russian teams’ participation in competitions.

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