Cristiano Ronaldo shut down back-to-back questions about Lionel Messi in the mixed zone after scoring twice to lead Portugal to a 5-0 win over Uzbekistan at Houston Stadium on Tuesday.
When a reporter began asking about Messi’s goals at the tournament, Ronaldo did not let the question finish. He turned to another journalist and simply said, “Go ahead.”
A second attempt produced a sharper response. Asked again about Messi, Ronaldo dismissed the comparison entirely.
“I couldn’t care less about others,” he said. “Mbappe also scored.”
The reaction came after days of mounting pressure on the 41-year-old, who had been invisible in Portugal’s 1-1 draw with DR Congo a week earlier, missing all three attempts on goal.
With Messi scoring five times in his first two matches, the contrast drew loud criticism about whether Ronaldo still belonged at this level.
He gave his answer on the pitch. Ronaldo opened the scoring in the sixth minute, converting from close range after a low cross from Joao Cancelo to become the first player in history to score in six different World Cups.
He doubled his tally in the 39th minute, racing onto a Bruno Fernandes through ball and finishing past the goalkeeper.
Nuno Mendes added a second with a clever free-kick routine, before an own goal from Abduvohid Nematov and a late strike from Rafael Leao completed the rout.
The brace took Ronaldo past Eusebio as Portugal’s all-time leading scorer at the World Cup, with 10 goals.
