Cristiano Ronaldo has found himself at the centre of controversy again, this time for appearing to change his stance on the FIFA World Cup. Fans have called him a “hypocrite” after his recent comments seemed to contradict what he said after Portugal’s 2022 World Cup exit in Qatar.
Back in December 2022, when Portugal were knocked out by Morocco in the quarterfinals, Ronaldo was emotional and said that winning the World Cup had always been his biggest dream. He even shared a long post on Instagram on how winning the title was the most ambitious dream of his career.
“Winning a World Cup for Portugal was the biggest and most ambitious dream of my career. Fortunately, I won many titles of international dimension, including for Portugal, but putting the name of our country on the highest level in the world was my biggest dream,” Ronaldo had said in his post in 2022.
However, in a new interview with Piers Morgan on his YouTube channel, the Portuguese superstar said something very different. These new comments have upset many fans, who feel Ronaldo is now trying to downplay his World Cup failure after seeing Lionel Messi win the last edition with Argentina.
“I’d say it’s NOT a dream for me to win the World Cup. To define what? To define if I’m one of the best in history? To win one competition, six games, seven games, do you think it’s fair?” Ronaldo said in his interview.
Fans slam Ronaldo for making a U-turn
Social media has been flooded with reactions, with many accusing Ronaldo of changing his stance on the World Cup after realising it may be too late for him to win one now. Ronaldo has played in five World Cups so far but has never managed to lift the trophy.
Ronaldo all of a sudden doesn’t care about the World Cup 😂
— MessiMania (@M10Update) November 4, 2025
pic.twitter.com/AZUvuSW0Pw
All those years Messi lost the World Cup final
— ChocoTribe (@Debbybruno3) November 4, 2025
Lost back to back Copa America finals
Was called a failure because Ronaldo won an international trophy before him
And he never for once downplayed any of those tournaments. You just have to respect him 🙌 pic.twitter.com/2fSTD1hlEn
2022 : Is it a dream for you to win the World Cup ?
— 𝐂𝐀 𝐕𝐀?🐐🐐 (@psg_chief) November 4, 2025
🚨🗣️Cristiano Ronaldo : “Yes I dream to win the World Cup”
2025 : Is it a dream for you to win the World Cup ?
🚨🗣️Cristiano Ronaldo : “No it is not. It is a 6 or 7 game tournament”
This guy is SHAMELESS 😂😂😭 pic.twitter.com/Pz5yhmmGOd
🗣️Cristiano Ronaldo in 2020
— 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚗 (@fcbharrison) November 4, 2025
“Winning the World Cup is a dream.. it’s a dream”
It’s not a dream anymore cos Messi has won it and completed football 😂 we genuinely can’t take this guy serious 😭😭 https://t.co/X7hiO257SG pic.twitter.com/FgvP639xAe
This is Ronaldo who was desperate about winning the World Cup not a long ago. This man is the cringiest player ever.pic.twitter.com/q3avGEdHKD https://t.co/nx9r5PjfwP
— OM (@Obesemessi) November 4, 2025
This was Ronaldo after he got eliminated by Morocco in the World Cup, btw. I bet he wouldn’t say this if Messi didn’t win it. He always has a way of downgrading whatever Messi wins. https://t.co/vPYdwLwTee pic.twitter.com/RRzD5dv9a7
— MessiMania (@M10Update) November 4, 2025
This Ronaldo guy is a hypocrite fr. pic.twitter.com/HYyzctTHWE
— Landelorf (✸fcb✸) (@Landelorf) November 4, 2025
The 2022 tournament in Qatar was especially painful for Ronaldo. Despite starting the competition as Portugal’s biggest star, he was dropped from the starting XI in key matches, including the quarterfinal loss to Morocco. He is already 40 years old and may have played his final World Cup the last time.
It is still not certain of if he will compete in the 2026 edition of the World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in the USA, Canada, and Mexico.


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