Cristiano Ronaldo Will Not Play For Portugal Again In 2018

It is being reported that Cristiano Ronaldo will not play for European champions Portugal again in 2018.

CR7 will not feature in upcoming friendly fixtures against Poland, Italy and Scotland in October and November, with the Juventus forward coming to an agreement with the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, Fernando Gomes, that he won't play.

Portugal coach Fernando Santos has also confirmed the news:

"We agreed the player wouldn't be available, wouldn't be an option for selection," Santos said. "For the next two squad selections, this one and the one next month, Ronaldo won't be with us."

Ronaldo also didn't feature against Italy and Croatia in two September fixtures.

The 33-year-old didn't attend the FIFA Best Awards in London last month, with both him and Lionel Messi missing out, despite being up for awards.

Messi had initially accepted the invitation but he informed Barcelona that he would not be absent due to personal reasons, while Ronaldo gave it a miss due to having a midweek game with Juventus on the Wednesday.

The pair were both named in the FIFPro World XI but the no-show was a big blow to FIFA and is said to have angered president Gianni Infantino.

Of course, plenty of the finalists were there at the Royal Festival Hall to see Luka Modric scoop the Men's Best Player Award but it wasn't the same without Messi and Ronaldo, two titans of world football.

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Topics: Football News, International, Football, Portugal, Juventus, World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

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