A major recurring theme at the past few major tournaments has been about whether Ronaldo should start.
He has scored 146 goals for his country, a record in men’s international football – but recently cynics have suggested he does not offer much else.
And with fame and status that transcends the game, Martinez seemingly dared not drop him.
But a team filled with some of the best defenders and midfielders in the world may have hoped to do better than make the last 16.
Four of the squad won the helped Paris St-Germain win the past two Champions League titles – left-back Nuno Mendes, midfielders Vitinha and Joao Neves and striker Goncalo Ramos, who joined AC Milan this summer.
Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes was the Premier League’s player of the year.
“How did Goncalo Ramos not get on the pitch?” asked Sutton.
“It’s an absolute embarrassment from the manager, just pandering to his star player.
“He’s the most decorated player that Portugal have ever had but you’ve got to be stronger than that.”
Ronaldo finished the tournament with three goals, a double against Uzbekistan and a penalty against Croatia.
But despite 10 players scoring more goals, only four players at the 2026 World Cup had more shots than Ronaldo’s 18.
Ronaldo had the same amount of efforts as seven-goal joint top scorer Erling Haaland has currently had.
He only created one chance for a team-mate in his five games by comparison.
Some 366 players touched the ball more times than Ronaldo at the World Cup despite him playing all bar nine minutes of Portugal’s five games.
Martinez said: “When you need a goal you cannot take Cristiano off, at least in 90 minutes, he is physically capable – his presence, open space, dead-ball situations, we need his experience.”
