The Athletic reported that the US team hopes to play a friendly match with Portugal in March next year, and Ronaldo is expected to play in the United States in 12 years.
reported that the US men's football team is in in-depth negotiations with the Portuguese team and plans to hold a friendly match in March 2026. The U.S. men's football team is seeking to play against Portugal and Belgium in March, according to anonymous sources close to negotiations. The specific venue has not been completely determined, but it is likely to be located in an NFL-compliant venue on the East Coast.
As the host of the World Cup, the American men's football team does not need to participate in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, but coach Pochettino hopes to face teams from different continents a year before the game to test the player's strength. They lost to South Korea 0-2 last week and will next play against Japan, and will face Ecuador, Australia, Paraguay and Uruguay in October and November.
The friendly match with Portugal and Belgium, two FIFA top ten teams, will depend on whether the two European teams can directly advance to the World Cup jointly organized by the United States, Canada and Mexico next year. Portugal also plans to play against Mexico at the Aztec Stadium in the same window period in March.
If the friendly match between the United States and Portugal is completed, it will end the record of Ronaldo not playing in the United States for nearly 12 years. The last time he played in the United States was on August 2, 2014, when he represented Real Madrid in front of 109,318 spectators in Ann Arbor Michigan Stadium. Earlier in the summer of the same year, he also represented Portugal in a friendly match with Ireland at the Metropolitan Life Stadium in New Jersey.
YouGov's opinion poll in the United States shows that Ronaldo is the second most publicly recognized player in the United States, second only to Messi. But since German media disclosed details of Ronaldo's alleged sexually assaulting model Katherine Mayoga during a 2009 vacation in Las Vegas, the player has never been publicly photographed in the United States. Since then, he has never participated in preseason or friendly matches held in the United States, whether he has won with Real Madrid, Juventus, Manchester United or the current club Riyadh. At the end of 2022, he had initial transfer negotiations with MLS's Kansas City Athletics, but eventually chose to go to Saudi Arabia.
However, even at the age of 40, Ronaldo is still an important member of the Portuguese national team. He scored twice in his 5-0 victory over Armenia last week and scored goals against Germany and Spain this summer in Portugal's semi-finals and finals.
source:ty so truc tuyen 7m cn