Over to you, Ronaldo: Messi, Mbappe and Haaland send repeat World Cup message

The Golden Boot race at the 2026 World Cup is going to be very exciting, but it will not involve one of the two greatest scorers of our generation.

We could see the first 10-goal tournament from a player since Gerd Muller 56 years ago… in Mexico!

Lionel Messi has five after two games and Argentina’s final group game is against debutants Jordan. Kylian Mbappe is on four after back-to-back braces against Senegal and Iraq. And now Norway hitman Erling Haaland has done the same to set up a mouth-watering Group I decider against Mbappe’s France on matchday three.

All three superstars shone last week to get their World Cups off to a flying start, and everyone just knew Cristiano Ronaldo was watching on absolutely furious, knowing he had to perform in Portugal’s opener against DR Congo.

The narrative going into Portugal’s tournament is that they would be held back by Ronaldo – the country’s greatest-ever scorer and a player closing in on 1,000 career goals, all of which are there to be watched, unlike Pele and his supposed 1,200-plus goals.

For all of Ronaldo’s success as a player, the World Cup is all that is missing, and so is any sort of World Cup legacy, as he hasn’t registered a single knockout goal despite appearing at the tournament for the sixth time in his career – a record he shares with his greatest rival Messi.

While Ronaldo is widely viewed as a hindrance to an excellent Portugal team with arguably the best midfield in international football, Argentina would not stand a chance without Messi, who will be 39 when he laces up for Argentina against Jordan.

To put it bluntly, if Messi decides to call it a day, he would be letting an entire country down. If Ronaldo decides to call it a day, he would be doing an entire country a favour.

Now, we are taking nothing away from Ronaldo and his simply stupendous career, and the counter-argument is that his No.9 replacement would hardly be an upgrade, as Roberto Martinez would likely start Goncalo Ramos or Joao Felix instead.

Ramos and Felix are far from world-class footballers, but what they can offer is a little bit of effort, which Ronaldo lacks and is failing to make up for with poacher goals.

After a very disappointing performance against DR Congo last week, Ronaldo has a huge opportunity to make a statement and shut people like me right up. That is because Portugal face World Cup debutants Uzbekistan, who looked rather disjointed against Colombia in their 3-1 defeat in Mexico City.

The fact Haaland has once again joined Messi and Mbappe with a statement performance at the World Cup, while Ronaldo flopped in his only appearance so far, should make him angrier and more motivated than ever before.

If he doesn’t score against Uzbekistan to officially join the party and put himself in an exciting Golden Boot race, there is absolutely no hope for him at this World Cup.

Over to you, Cristiano Ronaldo.

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