Cristiano Ronaldo shouts seven words and walks away after being asked Lionel Messi question

Cristiano Ronaldo walked away from the mixed zone after being asked a question about Lionel Messi's goalscoring record at the World Cup.

Ronaldo got his World Cup campaign off and running by scoring a brace in Portugal's 5-0 win over Uzbekistan in Group K on Tuesday.

He had failed to find the net in Portugal's opening 1-1 draw against DR Congo amid criticism over his performance.

PSG midfielder Joao Neves caused major controversy when he described Ronaldo as 'no different to the others' during his post-match press conference.

"We know what Ronaldo has done for the national team, but at this moment I feel that, for him, and for everyone, he's one of us. He's one more player trying to help, he's no different to the others. He's here to contribute like we all will."

The comments on Neves' Instagram account were subsequently flooded with criticism from supporters of Ronaldo, while team-mate Bruno Fernandes and even Neves' girlfriend were targeted on social media.

Ronaldo subsequently posted a photo of himself and his team-mates, including Neves, in training, captioning the image: "Always united!"

With attention on the 41-year-old at fever pitch levels ahead of the clash against Uzbekistan, Ronaldo scored two goals in the first half to open his 2026 World Cup account.

He scored from six yards with a first-time, right-footed finish from Joao Cancelo's cross, before he ran in behind to receive Bruno Fernandes' pass and found the bottom corner with a clever finish.

Ronaldo had lined up for a Portugal free-kick at 1-0 but decided to leave it for Nuno Mendes, who smashed the ball into the back of the net.

Ronaldo responds to Messi questions

After the match, the Manchester United and Real Madrid legend was asked about his long-time rival Messi, who has already scored five goals for Argentina at this World Cup.

The 38-year-old netted a hat-trick in Argentina's 3-0 win over Algeria in their opening group stage match, before a brace in their 2-0 win over Austria on Monday.

With his first goal against Austria, Messi became the leading individual goalscorer at World Cups with 17, overtaking Germany's Miroslav Klose.

But Ronaldo was specifically quizzed on Messi's hat-trick by a reporter in the mixed zone - and didn't appear to take too kindly to the question.

"I couldn't care less about the others," Ronaldo said. "[Kylian] Mbappe also scored."

Ronaldo then walked away from the mixed zone, after throwing his arm up in the air towards another reporter.

He had already been asked several times about the goalscoring achievements of Messi in his earlier press conference, and answered on every occasion.

When asked what he thought about potentially facing Messi for one final time at a World Cup, he replied: "Well I don't know what to answer you, because that's a somewhat... pointless question, but anyway. It would be great."

Should Argentina and Portugal win their respective groups - Portugal would need to beat Colombia in their final group fixture - the two nations would be on course to face each other in the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup.