Cristiano Ronaldo will not be Portugal's poster boy in the next 2022 World Cup in Qatar, according to reports.
According to rumours, Cristiano Ronaldo will not be Portugal's poster boy in the next 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
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Each team playing in the event will have one player chosen to have a gigantic 75-foot billboard stretched over Doha's towers - but Ronaldo will not be catching a sight of himself this winter as he is poised to be overlooked.
According to ESPN, Ronaldo will be snubbed as Portugal's preferred player on their poster, with either his Manchester United colleague Bruno Fernandes or Liverpool's Diogo Jota favored instead.
Many will be surprised by Portugal's choice to ignore the player who became the all-time leading international goal scorer last year.
Ronaldo, who broke Ali Daei's 109-goal record with a brace against Ireland, now has 117 international goals in 191 appearances - yet even this is insufficient to get a World Cup banner.
By selecting a younger member of the squad, Portugal appears to be accepting a new direction for their national team and preparing for life without its hero.
The 37-year-old has been in dismal form by his own standards, with only two goals in his past nine competitive outings for his country.
Ronaldo, on the other hand, may not be alone in not having his own gigantic poster.
Argentina is still to determine who would be on its banner, with Lionel Messi perhaps joining Ronaldo on the sidelines.
If both megastars fail to qualify, the Messi and Ronaldo era, in which the two have dominated international football for nearly a decade, may come to an end.
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