Ronaldo says coach broke his word twice in candid reveal

Cristiano Ronaldo on 6 October 2026 issued a forceful statement in which he detailed a rupture with Portugal national‑team coach Jorge Jesus, alleging the coach broke his word on two separate occasions. The former captain said the incidents occurred during recent international fixtures and that he bears responsibility for the fallout.

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Ronaldo’s promise to speak the truth

Een week ago he left the Portuguese camp with one promise: to tell the truth about whatever happened. “On the flight back from the United States the federation president urged me to reconsider my decision. Immediately afterwards he asked my opinion on the current national coach. I said that, in my view, it would be the right choice,” Ronaldo recalled.

He added that the first meeting with Jesus produced a clear plan: he would be used only in specific international windows because of his physical load.

First alleged breach

During the opening match of the window Jesus visited Ronaldo at his Lisbon home and confirmed the arrangement that Ronaldo would start the first and fourth games. Ronaldo completed the first match, was substituted, and handed the captain’s armband to Bruno Fernandes.

“I had no problem with my substitution. What mattered that day was our victory. Winning is always good, in Portugal and even more for my country,” he said. “He has broken his word towards me twice,” Ronaldo added, referring to the coach’s failure to honour the agreed substitution plan.

Ronaldo confronts Jesus, citing Pelé and Maradona after bench snub

Second alleged breach

Days later, while in Norway, the coach surprised Ronaldo by asking if he was fit enough to play thirty minutes in the second match. “To my absolute astonishment the coach asked if I was fit enough to still play thirty minutes in match two. I was fully occupied with my physical recovery and thought I would not play that day. Without any problem,” Ronaldo explained.

When the minutes passed without him being brought on, Ronaldo felt the second promise had been broken. After the game he immediately left the stadium, refusing to greet travelling supporters.

“That was solely my responsibility and should not have happened. I apologise to the Portuguese who supported us so passionately, to the supporters and to everyone who may have come especially to see me and whom I may have disappointed,” he wrote.

Two days later the pair met again for “a deep and very open conversation, without any filter”. Ronaldo said the coach asked for a hug and promised to reveal the private discussion at his next press conference, hoping “the matter would be behind us”.

Ronaldo rebukes Jorge Jesus as he likens himself to Pelé and Maradona

Eight specific points were drafted for the press conference, one of which read: “I made a mistake by letting someone with the status of Pelé or Maradona warm up and then not bring him on. If I could do it again today, I would not.”

Ronaldo claimed he heard “statements and an aggression that I, in my opinion, did not deserve. An attitude of ‘I want, I can and I decide’ that he had never shown me privately the day before.” He concluded, “None of those eight points, by the way, said that the coach had to apologise to me. But that was the second time he broke his word towards me.”