Portugal are coming off an elimination against Spain in the Round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup, which put an end to Cristiano Ronaldo‘s World Cup dream. While it left him without opportunities to conquer that title, CR7 looks happy with what he achieved with his country, especially today on a major anniversary.
Cristiano Ronaldo commemorated this July 10, 2026, the 10th anniversary of the European Championship won by Portugal in France. The captain shared a photograph of the celebration with the trophy and wrote, “A victory of millions!“ ten years after the Portuguese side secured the first championship in their history at the senior level.
Following that elimination, Ronaldo generated a lot of buzz by comparing the value of the Euro obtained in 2016 to a World Cup. The forward highlighted the importance of that achievement for Portuguese soccer and stated: “I have won three titles with Portugal. Before Cristiano, Portugal had not won anything. The biggest title I won with the national team was in 2016, which, to me, has the same dimension of a World Cup, sincerely.”
How Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal secured the Euro 2016
In that tournament, the Portuguese path began with three draws in Group F: 1-1 against Iceland, 0-0 against Austria, and 3-3 against Hungary. Cristiano scored two goals and provided an assist in the final group matchup, a result that allowed the team led at the time by Fernando Santos to advance as one of the best third-place finishers.
Portugal then defeated Croatia 1-0 in the Round of 16 with a goal from Ricardo Quaresma during extra time. In the quarterfinals, they drew 1-1 with Poland following goals by Robert Lewandowski and Renato Sanches, and punched their ticket to the semifinals by winning 5-3 in a penalty shootout.
The Portuguese national team found their most solid performance against Wales. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring with a header, and Nani extended the lead to establish a 2-0 win that took Portugal to their second European final, 12 years after the defeat suffered against Greece in Lisbon.
The most important final in Portugal’s history
In the final, they faced France. However, that match on July 10, 2016, changed for Portugal when Cristiano suffered a knee injury following contact with Dimitri Payet. The forward attempted to continue with a bandage but ultimately left the pitch on a stretcher in the 25th minute.
Cristiano remained near the technical area and accompanied Fernando Santos by shouting instructions to his teammates, leaving one of the best moments of the tournament. In the 109th minute, Eder received the ball outside the box and beat Hugo Lloris with a shot that decided the 1-0 victory. Portugal thus lifted their first title, and Ronaldo defined that night as one of the happiest moments of his career.
