One of the greatest chapters in the history of world football is coming to an end, as Cristiano Ronaldo has announced his retirement from the Portugal national team, bringing the curtain down on a career spanning more than two decades.

The 41-year-old superstar made his decision public on Thursday morning through social media, choosing not to wait for the national team’s next fixtures or the announcement from the national team coach. In a brief but deeply emotional message, CR7 effectively said goodbye to the shirt he had worn for 23 years.

Ronaldo’s contribution to Portugal’s national team has been immense. In 234 appearances, he has scored 146 goals, making him the leading scorer in the history of the national side and one of the highest-scoring international players in the world.

Throughout that journey, he has experienced moments that will remain etched in the memories of Portuguese fans for ever. The most significant was undoubtedly Portugal’s triumph at Euro 2016, when the country reached the summit of European football for the first time. His collection of honours also includes two Nations League titles, in 2019 and 2025.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s message reads:

“To all the Portuguese,

The day has come for me to hand over the number 7 shirt of the national team, the team that belongs to us all. I have never felt that this shirt belonged exclusively to me. But for 23 years, I have had the privilege and responsibility of wearing it, defending it and carrying it with me to stadiums around the world.

Today, the time has come to pass it on to the next generations. It was not an easy decision, because some decisions are made not only with the mind, but also with the heart.

A journey that began in August 2003 and changed my life for ever is coming to an end. When I look back and think of everything I experienced with the national team, I do not see only matches, goals, records or trophies. I see people. I see emigrants who, for 90 minutes, felt Portugal a little closer to them.

I see millions of Portuguese people whom I have never met personally, but who became part of my life. Because, at the end of the day, football is something much greater than a game. Football is about people.

Throughout my career with the national team, I always tried to push beyond my limits. I wanted to win, I wanted to be the best, I wanted to make history.

I have always been demanding of myself. I always wanted more, I always believed we could go even further. And I gave everything I had for this shirt.

There were perfect afternoons and evenings, victories I will never forget. There were also defeats that I still find difficult to think about. I made mistakes too, I suffered too, and there were moments when I failed to give the Portuguese people what they so desperately wanted.

But I never gave up. And above all, I never stopped feeling proud to represent Portugal.

Over all these years, I have learned a few very simple things. Goals fade, trophies remain in museums, records are eventually broken. But there is something time can never erase: the place we hold in people’s hearts.

If I made you happy even once, if even one of my goals made you hug someone, forget a worry and simply feel proud of our country, then it was all worth it.

Because that is also what being Portuguese means. We suffer together, we rise again together.

We believe again.

Portugal will always need young people who dream, footballers who never give up, new generations who believe they can reach places no one has reached before.

Because a country that continues to produce new heroes is a country that never stops believing in itself.

To my team-mates on this journey, I want to say a special thank you.

Thank you for every run, every embrace, every disagreement, every moment of silence before we walked out onto the pitch. For every victory we celebrated together and every defeat that made us stronger.

I had the privilege of being your captain. But no captain moves forward alone. And you are part of my story.

To all the coaches, officials, doctors, physiotherapists, kit managers, staff and the many people who worked alongside me over all these years, a huge thank you.

Many of you never appeared in these photographs. But without you, none of those photographs would ever have existed.

To my family, thank you for sharing this dream with me. Thank you for understanding the absences, the sacrifices and the moments when the national team had to occupy a place in my life that also belonged to you.

If I came this far, it was because we always walked hand in hand.

And to the Portuguese people, to all the Portuguese scattered across the world, I want to say one last thing.

There is one image I will always carry with me.

The moment when the national anthem begins to play.

I look around me, I see my team-mates, I see the stands, I see children, mothers, fathers and grandparents. I see Portuguese people who have travelled from so far away simply to be there.

And for those few minutes, our differences cease to exist.

There are no clubs, no colours, no social classes, no professions, no differing opinions.

There is only one passion.

Portugal.

That is the feeling I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

Today, my journey on the pitch with the national team comes to an end. I leave with my head held high, proud of the path I have travelled and with a clear conscience that I gave everything I had for Portugal.

But I will never stop being one of you. I will continue to feel the tension, be moved and celebrate every Portuguese victory.

I spent my life working to become the best footballer in the world. Today, I realise that my greatest victory was being fortunate enough to represent the best country in the world.

Thank you for these 23 years.

Thank you for believing in me.

Thank you for giving me the chance to live a dream that began when I was just a little boy in Madeira, running after a ball.

The number 7 shirt remains. The pride I felt wearing it will be mine for ever.

Portugal will always be inside me.

Until we meet again,

Cristiano Ronaldo.”