After extending his record-breaking career with Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo is now observing the ascent of a new generation of Spanish talent in the world of international football.

As the national team gets ready to play again in Europe this week, 39-year-old Ronaldo declared late on Monday, “I’ll be the first to step away when I feel I’m no longer contributing.” “My motivation is to join the national team and win the Nations League.”

Less than two months after the European Championship final in Germany, Portugal and Spain will meet one other in the opening match of the new UEFA Nations League on Thursday.

 

Despite the fact that Ronaldo led Portugal to success in previous iterations of the 2019 Nations League and Euro 2016, Spain currently possesses both titles thanks to the efforts of an exciting new generation of players.

The 17-year-old star from Barcelona’s Euro 2024 squad, Lamine Yamal, and the 20-year-old Gavi were not even born when Ronaldo participated in his first big tournament final—the Euro 2004 defeat to Greece.

The legendary Spain squad that won three straight titles at Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup, and Euro 2012 came into conflict with Ronaldo during some of his best years. Portugal was defeated by Spain in the elimination stages of the last two of those competitions.

Now that Spain is back on top, the World Cup of 2026 might have a record sixth edition with a 41-year-old Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who would turn 39 during the competition in North America.

In translated remarks, Ronaldo responded to a question on Monday regarding his plans for the World Cup by saying, “I can’t give you an answer because I don’t know what will happen.”

Ronaldo was left out of Portugal’s squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and was scoreless in five games in the 2024 European Championship.

In order to surpass his records of 212 games and 130 goals for the men’s national team, he is currently getting ready to play Croatia on Thursday.

With the next World Cup in mind, the Nations League gets underway.

The 2026 World Cup qualifying groups for Europe will be formed in Zurich in December. Following the conclusion of Nations League group play, FIFA will probably revise its world rankings in November, which will determine the seedings.

Europe’s World Cup qualifying campaigns often begin in March, but the elite teams that go to the Nations League Final Four in June of the following year aren’t available until September.

Teams competing in the Final Four lineup will only play six games from September to November 2025, and they will be placed into four-team World Cup qualification groups. March or June is when the five-team qualifying groups must begin.

As UEFA members receive 16 spots in the bigger 48-team finals competition, which is hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico, their route to the 2026 World Cup is slightly different.

The top 12 finishers in each group earn a spot in the World Cup. In March 2026, the top 12 finishers advance to a 16-team playoff, with four more spots determined by the Nations League rankings.

Four playoff brackets are created from the 16 playoff teams. Each of the four World Cup entries will be determined by single-game semifinals and finals.

UEFA hopes to strengthen its third-tier national-team competition by offering teams a qualifying path from the Nations League into the World Cups and European Championships.

 

Spain won the men’s football competition in the 2023 Nations League, the Paris Olympics, and Euro 2024.

The first two away games for the Nations League defence are on Thursday in Belgrade against Serbia and on Sunday in Geneva against Switzerland. Denmark is a group member as well.

Since Euro 2024, witnessing close friends Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal assault teams from opposite wings has been the main draw.

Not only do 36-year-old Robert Lewandowski, 39-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, and 39-year-old Luka Modrić play international football together, but they are all in the same Nations League group.

 

Ronaldo vs. Modrić in Lisbon on Thursday and Modrić vs. Lewandowski in Osijek, Croatia on Sunday are the scheduled matches.

Scotland plays the seasoned trio six times in Group A1 through mid-November. As of this week, they had combined for 542 national team games and 239 goals.

The two key matches for Kylian Mbappé’s France are against Italy on Friday in Paris and Belgium on Monday in Lyon.

Due to the ongoing conflict with Hamas, Israel completes the group and plays its first two games in Hungary, which is neutral. Israel plays its home game in Budapest on Monday against Italy and its away game in Debrecen on Friday against Belgium.

 

For security considerations, “no local authority in Belgium considers it possible” to hold a match against Israel, according to a July statement from the Belgian football federation.

Next Tuesday’s high-profile matchup has Germany visiting the Netherlands, who are finalists in Euro 2024.

The multi-tiered Nations League system has always been complicated; it was introduced in 2018 to give teams more competitive games against opponents at comparable levels.

Elite teams in League A fight to stay in League A and make it to the Final Four the next season. In the second tier are Turkey, Austria, and England.

As Georgia did in the unexpected Euro 2024, mid- and low-ranked teams can achieve promotions and pursue playoff routes to a World Cup or European Championship.

A new element to this season is a quarterfinal round for eight elite nations in March of next year, along with promotion-relegation playoffs for twenty more teams.