Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo said that the 2022 World Cup will likely be his last. On Monday during an awards ceremony where he won top La Liga scorer for 2014-15, he spoke to beIN Sports about the 2022 World Cup.
"I expect Qatar could be my final World Cup. I often go on holidays there, to Qatar as well as Dubai. I am happy because for sure it will be last international tournament," Ronaldo said to beIN, per AS.
My third Pichichi award! Proud to be the best scorer of La Liga. Thank you all. pic.twitter.com/94tD8dBuHa
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) February 8, 2016
Now, that makes sense. Come the 2022 World Cup, Ronaldo will be 37, an age where many soccer players have already retired. But because of his world class skill and his fitness, it's conceivable that CR7 could still be playing strong at that age. One of the best players in Portugal's history, it would make sense for Ronaldo to go to that World Cup, assuming Portugal qualifies, to mentor the other players if anything.
It's the second interesting announcement from Ronaldo, as he also said during the ceremony that he will stay at Real Madrid till 2018 and "then we we'll see."
He certainly sounds like someone who likes to plan for the future.
Speaking of 2018, before Ronaldo plans for his final World Cup in Qatar, he will likely play in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, if Portugal makes it through European qualifying, which starts Sept. 6 for the Iberian nation.
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