Portugal has officially summoned Cristiano Ronaldo back. According to a report in Saudi newspaper Arriyadiyah carried by World Soccer Talk on 30 October 2026, the federation sent Al-Nassr a formal request for the release of Ronaldo, João Félix and Samu Costa for the November window.
The two fixtures in question are Portugal’s home game against Denmark on 14 November in Braga and the away trip to Wales on 17 November, both in UEFA Nations League Group Four.
The letter closes the disciplinary loop around a 30-day suspension and a €255 fine imposed after Ronaldo walked out of Portugal’s camp on 30 September. Because the sanction was applied retrospectively from the date of the incident, it runs out before the November international break. On paper, the Al-Nassr captain is available again. In practice, that is where the story gets complicated.
The ultimatum ESPN describes
The complication is a report ESPN published in early October, which Fox Sports carried in full. ESPN said sources had told them Ronaldo had issued an ultimatum to the federation: he would not return to the national team while Jesus was still the coach.
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The flashpoint, per the same report, was a public apology Ronaldo believed he had been promised in return for coming back. In a follow-up, ESPN said it had obtained the document setting out the points Jesus was expected to address publicly, and that document contained no obligation for an apology, as summarised by OneFootball. Jesus made conciliatory remarks at his next news conference but did not say the word Ronaldo was waiting for.
Jesus himself has not budged.
“As far as I’m concerned, the door is wide open. It’s up to Cris to decide what he wants to do with his life,” the coach told reporters, as quoted by OneFootball.
The Copenhagen walkout
The walkout itself happened on 30 September in Copenhagen, on the eve of Portugal’s Nations League match against Denmark. Jesus had told reporters earlier that day that Ronaldo would train with the group. The 41-year-old left camp on a private flight hours later.
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The real trigger, by Ronaldo’s own account, lay three days earlier. He was an unused substitute in Portugal’s 2-1 win away to Norway on 27 September, despite being told by Jesus he would come on for 30 minutes. Al Jazeera reported on the day of the walkout that Jesus dismissed the idea of a rift before Ronaldo’s departure was confirmed.
A week later, Ronaldo broke his silence.
“I apologise to the Portuguese who supported us intensely there, I apologise to the fans, and I apologise to those who, without being Portuguese, may have travelled there to see me and whom I may have disappointed,” he wrote on Instagram on 6 October, in a statement reported by Sky Sports.
In the same statement, Ronaldo accepted that the federation would decide his punishment and said he would still make himself available for Portugal if fit, framing the dispute as a breach of trust by the coach rather than a retirement from international football.
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Portugal keeps winning without him
The awkward backdrop to the whole dispute is that Portugal has not needed Ronaldo to win. OneFootball notes the national team has since taken wins over Denmark and Norway, with the Norway game being the one Ronaldo watched from the bench. The federation president, Pedro Proença, has publicly left the door open without pushing Jesus toward the apology Ronaldo wanted.
Ronaldo has already been named in Portugal’s preliminary squad for the November window. The call to confirm him in the final list, and the decision over whether he actually travels to Braga, now sits with Jesus and the player himself.
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