Cristiano Ronaldo has been named in the worst team of the World Cup group stages
Cristiano Ronaldo has earned the dubious honour of being one of the worst players in this year's World Cup group stages.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner started all three of Portugal's Group H games but looked anonymous aside from a penalty against Ghana.
Ronaldo was substituted in all three games, while Portugal's last five goals were scored by players other than him.
Joao Felix and Rafel Leao are viewed as the national team's future and got on the scoresheet against Ghana. Bruno Fernandes is arguably Portugal's best player, with his brace against Uruguay sealing qualification. Ricardo Horta got on the scoresheet early in Friday's shock 2-1 defeat to South Korea.
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Are Fernando Santos' side leaving Ronaldo behind? The rest of the footballing world appears to be doing. Data giants Sofascore gave Ronaldo an average rating of 6.37 for his appearances in this autumn's tournament so far.
He and Mathew Leckie of Australia are the only two players included in the team who have qualified for the round of 16.
Unsurprisingly, hosts Qatar have four players in there given their poor showing in Group A. They became the first host nation to lose all three of their group games. They only managed one goal in that time too, in a 3-1 defeat to Senegal.
Check out the full team below:
Goalkeeper: Meshaal Barsham (Qatar and Al Sadd)
Right-back: Alistair Johnston (Canada and CF Montreal)
Centre back: Oscar Duarte (Costa Rica and Al-Wehda)
Centre back: Francisco Calvo (Costa Rica and Konyaspor)
Left-back: Homam Ahmed (Qatar and Al-Gharafa)
Right midfield: Mathew Leckie (Australia and Melbourne City)
Central midfield: Karim Boudiaf (Qatar and Al-Duhail)
Central midfield: Abdulellah Al Malki (Saudi Arabia and Al-Hilal)
Left midfield: Tajon Buchanan (Canada and Club Brugge)
Striker: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal and Unattached)
Striker: Almoez Ali (Qatar and Al-Duhail)
Ronaldo is currently without a club after leaving Manchester United last month. The 37-year-old unloaded on the club during a bombshell interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV.
Portugal topped Group H despite defeat to South Korea. The dramatic finale ensured they'd be joined in the last 16 by Paulo Bento's side.
A Selecao will face Switzerland on Tuesday evening for a place in the quarter-finals.
Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal, Football World Cup
Daniel Marland