Henry and Sutton slam Ronaldo for selfishness after Portugal's shock draw with DR Congo

Thierry Henry has accused Cristiano Ronaldo of putting personal ambition ahead of Portugal’s team needs after the five-time Ballon d’Or winner struggled through a 1-1 World Cup draw with DR Congo in their Group K opener.

Ronaldo, appearing at a record-equalling sixth World Cup at the age of 41, squandered two clear chances and failed to make a meaningful impact across 90 minutes. Despite the lacklustre display, manager Roberto Martinez kept him on for the full game — a decision that drew immediate criticism from multiple high-profile pundits.

Henry, speaking on Fox Sports, pointed to two specific moments where Ronaldo’s instinct to score appeared to work against his own teammates. “The team needs to score, not you need to score,” the France legend said. “Because he wants to score, he goes into the path of Bruno Fernandes. If he goes into the six-yard box, you’ve been in that situation — you would have had to follow him. Then it would have been a tap-in for Bruno Fernandes.”

On a second incident, Henry added: “Because he wants to score, he goes in the path of the backpass. You see both players and it’s easier for you to defend. The team needs to score, not you.”

Ex-Premier League striker Chris Sutton was equally scathing about Martinez’s reluctance to substitute Ronaldo. Posting on X, Sutton wrote: “Embarrassingly weak from Roberto Martinez. He should have hooked Ronaldo off but he’s too scared of upsetting him. Ronaldo is essentially the manager of Portugal. Well played DR Congo — deserved the point.”

Joe Cole added a more measured but pointed call for change, urging Martinez to manage Ronaldo’s minutes carefully across the tournament. “What benefit is he going to be trying to play every minute of every game for eight matches?” Cole said on the Rest is Football podcast. “He needs to be used sparingly. The manager’s got to be strong enough to drop him.”

Martinez himself acknowledged Portugal lost their way after the opening exchanges. “We started the match very well. Scoring should have been a great moment, but it wasn’t,” he said. “We lost a bit of our attacking depth, lost fluency in possession, and allowed them to regain their shape somewhat. The confidence they gained after the goal made the game very difficult, but that’s what happens at World Cups.”

The dropped points leave Portugal under pressure in Group K. They face Uzbekistan next on Tuesday before a decisive final group game against Colombia — who beat Uzbekistan 3-1 — on June 28.