World Cup: ‘He has no pace, can’t go past anyone’ – Liverpool legend about Ronaldo

Liverpool icon, Alan Hansen has expressed his criticism of Cristiano Ronaldo’s performances during the 2026 World Cup, where Portugal finished second in their group after a goalless draw against Colombia on Saturday, June 27, in Miami.

At 41 years old, Ronaldo faced a challenging start to the tournament, with a frustrating 1-1 draw against DR Congo, where he recorded two shots that missed the target and had 25 touches. He showed improvement in the subsequent match against Uzbekistan, scoring twice in a 5-0 victory, thus becoming the first player to score in six World Cups and the oldest to achieve a brace.

However, in the match against Colombia, the Al-Nassr forward struggled to make an impact, managing only two touches in the opponent’s box, one of three shots on target, losing possession eight times, and being caught offside twice, according to ESPN.

During a post-match analysis on ESPN Podcasts, Hansen, a former defender, commented on Ronaldo’s declining speed and tendency to be offside:

He said, “In this World Cup, he has been offside more times than I can remember because he knows he needs to get a quick headstart on the defenders because he doesn’t have the pace, so he’s running offside.

“And then he ends up in a wide area … because he’s not beaten anybody, he can’t go past anybody, so the only place he has to be is in the penalty box, but even then he’s pretty much invisible.”

Ronaldo and his teammates are set to face 2018 finalists Croatia in a significant Round of 32 match on Thursday, July 2, in Toronto.