Cristiano Ronaldo was shown a straight red card during Portugal’s World Cup qualifier ag
Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off during Portugal’s World Cup qualifier against Ireland for seemingly elbowing Dara O’Shea in the back. Footage of the incident shows the striker and the centre-half scuffling off the ball in the box 62 minutes into the match, before Ronaldo spun and thrusted his arm towards O’Shea’s back.
As O’Shea bundled towards the ground, play was paused while VAR looked closely at the incident. While Ronaldo was initially only booked with a yellow for the incident, referee Glynn Nyberg changed his opinion after reviewing the footage at the pitch-side monitor, upgrading his card to a red. As Ronaldo walked off the hallowed turf of the Aviva Stadium, he sarcastically applauded and showed a thumbs up – after being booed for parts of the match.
It came as the Al-Nassr star’s 13th red card of his career, but just his first for the Portuguese national team. As a result, he will miss Portugual’s final World Cup qualifier against Armenia, who currently sit bottom of Group F.
He may also see himself suspended for Portugal’s first match of the 2026 World Cup, depending on the punishment he receives for the sending-off. It comes after Ronaldo had promised to be a “good boy” ahead of the fixture.
Speaking to reporters before the match, he said: “It’s a pleasure to come and play here again. Of course, it will be tough. I hope they don’t boo me too much tomorrow. I swear that I’m going to try to be a good boy. But of course, I do my job. I try to win the game and try to score to help my team. I’m sure that the game will be difficult.”
It was a night that went from bad to worse for Portugal on Irish soil. Troy Parrott opened the scoring for the hosts 17 minutes into the match, before bagging his brace on the stroke of half-time.
Victory on Thursday evening would have been snough to secure Portugal’s place at next summer’s tournament in North America, although they may now rely on a win over Armenia to stamp their place, given Hungary trail them by two points, and Ireland are now just three points shy of the Group F leaders.
