Cristiano Ronaldo announces retirement from Portugal national team

Cristiano Ronaldo announced on Thursday that he will no longer play for Portugal. The 41-year-old made the announcement in a long video message on social media.

"To the Portuguese people, the day has come for me to hand back the No. 7 shirt of our national team," Ronaldo said. He added: "I never felt it belonged to me alone but for 23 years I had the privilege and the responsibility of wearing it, defending it and carrying it with me into stadiums all around the world."

His international career spanned six World Cups and included a European title and the men's all-time international scoring record. He scored a record 146 goals in 234 appearances for Portugal.

The retirement follows a falling out with coach Jorge Jesus. Ronaldo's final appearance was on 24 September in a 1-0 win over Wales in the Nations League. Jesus then kept him on the bench for the next match and said he did not plan to start him in the following one.

Ronaldo left the Portugal training camp after being left out. The Portuguese football federation suspended him for 30 days after he quit the camp. Jesus later said Ronaldo would be welcome back and that the decision to return was up to him.

The federation expressed deep gratitude and immense admiration for his service and said it intends to organise a tribute. In its statement it said: "Cristiano Ronaldo has raised Portugal's profile and inspired generations of young people who dream of following in his footsteps; for many of us, he is the greatest player of all time!"

Ronaldo will continue at club level and is expected to finish his club career at the end of this season with Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia. He has 985 career goals and is pursuing his 1,000th. Euronews noted that Lionel Messi ended his Argentina career with a farewell match last month.