Cristiano Ronaldo has decided he will not play for Portugal again while Jorge Jesus is head coach, a CNN Portugal commentator has claimed.

Rui Santos, a long-standing pundit on the broadcaster, said the forward had already resolved to stay away. According to Santos, Ronaldo was “very badly impressed” by Jesus’s public comments and by the Portuguese Football Federation’s handling of the row that broke out last week.

Ronaldo left Portugal’s camp on Wednesday, 30 September, after being told he would not start against Denmark. Three days earlier he had been an unused substitute in Oslo, where Portugal beat Norway 2-1, with Gonçalo Ramos among the scorers.

Portugal then won 4-2 in Denmark on Thursday and beat Norway again, 2-1 at the Dragão on Sunday, with Ramos scoring the 86th-minute winner after João Cancelo had cancelled out Kristoffer Ajer’s opener. The second result booked a Nations League quarter-final place.

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Jesus: “I don’t apologise to anyone”

Speaking after the Porto match, Jesus insisted the matter had never been an issue from his side.

“For me, Cris, in the next call-up, if he’s playing at Al-Nassr, he’ll be a player who can be called up,” he said, according to Al Jazeera, adding that any return would have to be the player’s decision.

The coach added that selection was his call alone.

“I am the head coach, I select whoever I want, and I don’t ask anyone who I should select or who should play,” Jesus told reporters.

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“I don’t apologise to anyone.”

Proença backs the captain

Federation president Pedro Proença went further on RTP, framing the dispute as internal business and backing his captain in public.

“We are talking about the best player of all time, a player who has given more than two decades to Portuguese football,” Proença said.

“Cristiano Ronaldo today represents the greatest symbol of Portuguese identity.”

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Proença described the row as “a misunderstanding that has to be resolved inside the house” and insisted Ronaldo “will always be part of this group” as long as he remains in sporting shape.

No word yet from Ronaldo

Santos’s claim, picked up by SPORTbible and other outlets, has not been confirmed by Ronaldo himself. The forward took a private flight back to Saudi Arabia after walking out of the camp and said he would explain his reasons “in due course”.

Ronaldo is Portugal’s record cap-holder on 234 appearances and the all-time men’s international top scorer with 146 goals. Jesus, who managed him at Al-Nassr from July 2025 to May 2026 before taking the Portugal job in July 2026, has said he would call him up for the November window if he is still playing at the Saudi club.

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