Cristiano Ronaldo announces his international retirement from Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo won’t play for Portugal anymore, ending on Thursday a career that spanned six World Cups and included a European title and the men’s all-time international scoring record.

His announcement marked the end of a lauded career that began more than two decades ago before Euro 2004 and finished with him walking out on the national team after falling out with coach Jorge Jesus.

"To the Portuguese people, the day has come for me to hand back the No. 7 shirt of our national team,” the 41-year-old Ronaldo said in a long video message on social media. "I never felt it belonged to me alone but for 23 years I had the privilege and the responsibility of wearing it, defending it and carrying it with me into stadiums all around the world.

“Today the time has come to pass it on to the future. It was not an easy decision because some decisions are not made with the mind alone. They are also made with the heart. A journey that began in August 2003 and changed my life forever has come to an end.”

Ronaldo will keep playing at club level, which he is expected to finish at the end of this season with Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia.

He is in pursuit of his 1,000th career goal and sits on 985. Of those, a record 146 goals came in 234 appearances with Portugal.

While long-time peer Lionel Messi finished his career with Argentina last month after a much anticipated farewell match, Ronaldo’s final appearance with Portugal has ended up being on Sept. 24 in a 1-0 home win over Wales in the Nations League.

Jesus kept him on the bench for the following match and said he didn’t plan to start him in the next one, so Ronaldo decided to leave the team’s training camp. Jesus later said Ronaldo would be welcome back and the decision to return was up to him.

The Portuguese soccer federation released a statement expressing “deep gratitude and immense admiration” for Ronaldo’s service to the country.

“Cristiano Ronaldo has raised Portugal’s profile and inspired generations of young people who dream of following in his footsteps; for many of us, he is the greatest player of all time!” the federation said.

It said it intends to organize a tribute to Ronaldo “in which the fans and the country can one more time applaud and celebrate a player who has given us so much.”

Before Ronaldo debuted for Portugal by replacing Luís Figo in a 2003 friendly against Kazakhstan, Portugal had never won any major trophies.

Then he and successive generations of talented teammates made Portugal a regular presence at major tournaments.

Portugal won its first major title at Euro 2016, and the Nations League in 2019 and 2025.

“Throughout my entire career with the national team, I always pushed myself beyond my limits," Ronaldo said. "I wanted to win. I wanted to be better. I wanted to make history.

“I always demanded the most of myself. I always wanted more. I always believed we could go further. And I gave everything I had for this shirt.”

Portugal qualified for the World Cup only three times before Ronaldo’s time — 1966, 1986 and 2002. On his watch, Portugal qualified every single time.

The same was true for the Euros, which Portugal had played only three times before Ronaldo — 1984, 1996 and 2000. After he arrived it played in the tournament every time. Portugal was runner-up in Ronaldo’s Euro debut in 2004 at home.

At the World Cup, Portugal went as far as fourth place with Ronaldo, in his tournament debut in 2006. It was among the title candidates nearly every time after that, though, with a best result a quarterfinal appearance in 2022.

“There were perfect afternoons and nights. There were victories I will never forget. There were defeats that still hurt to remember” Ronaldo said. “I made mistakes. I suffered. There were also moments when I couldn’t give the Portuguese people what they so desperately wanted. But I never gave up, I never stopped feeling proud to represent Portugal.”

Portugal’s best World Cup finish remains third place in 1966 with the great Eusébio in what was the team’s only World Cup participation until 1986.

Ronaldo was the first man to score in six World Cups. He reached an all-time 11 goals at this year’s World Cup, surpassing the previous Portugal record of nine from Eusébio.

He has scored for Portugal in 23 consecutive calendar years, from 2004-26.

He became the first player to reach 200 men’s international appearances, and his 234 appearances remain the most all-time in men’s international soccer.

Ronaldo also has the most Euro appearances with 30, and the most Euro goals with 14. His first ever international goal came at the start of Euro 2004, when host Portugal was runner-up to Greece.

Ronaldo's farewell video was of him reading out his retirement announcement, interspersed with clips of him playing for the national team and footage of Portuguese fans.

“I spent my life working to become the best player in the world,” Ronaldo said at the end. "Today I realise that my greatest victory was earning the honor of representing the best country in the world.

“Thank you for these 23 years. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for allowing me to live a dream that began when I was just a little boy in Madeira, running after a football. The No. 7 shirt will remain. The pride of having worn it will be mine forever.”

AP Sports Writer Daniella Matar in Milan contributed.

See AP’s full soccer coverage here

FILE - Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo prepares to kick a penalty during a round of sixteen match between Portugal and Slovenia at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)

FILE - Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (7) celebrates after scoring their opening goal during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Portugal and Croatia in Toronto, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)

FILE - Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo gets ready to perform a free kick, during the Euro 2012 soccer championship semifinal match between Spain and Portugal in Donetsk, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)

FILE - Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, center, and his teammates celebrate after winning the Euro 2016 final soccer match between Portugal and France at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, Sunday, July 10, 2016. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

FILE - Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo gestures as he holds the trophy while celebrating winning the UEFA Nations League final soccer match between Portugal and Netherlands at the Dragao stadium in Porto, Portugal, Sunday, June 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

FILE - Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo gestures after having a goal disallowed by the VAR during the Nations League soccer match between Portugal and Wales in Lisbon, on Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File)

MILAN (AP) — Multiple flights in Europe made emergency landings on Thursday after being diverted because of bomb threats, authorities said. The incidents followed hoax bomb threats earlier this week that prompted searches, diversions and in one case a military escort.

More than a dozen flights from cities including Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, Madrid, Milan and Warsaw were confirmed to have been targeted with bomb threats, most diverted to other airports for emergency landings while others landed safely at their destinations. So far inspections have not turned up hazardous or suspicious materials.

Such threats are not new, but the latest incidents come at a time of increased geopolitical tensions and other disruptions, like attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems, drone incursions in Europe and mysterious triggers to alert apps. Authorities have warned that hybrid threats abound.

Czech police said searches of another four planes that landed in Prague after being targeted by bomb threats were clear. They have not given details on where the flights originated.

Earlier, a flight from Dublin to Rome was diverted to a military air base in western France because of a bomb threat, the French prime minister’s office said. The flight landed safely at the base in Evreux in Normandy, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s office said. All 151 passengers and six crew members were safe and military bomb disposal teams were examining the plane, the office said.

It added that it was following the situation in real time. No other information was immediately released.

A LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw to Brussels landed at its destination, where inspections found no hazardous or suspicious items, the airline said. A Wizz Air flight from Milan to Bucharest landed safely in Bucharest following a bomb threat, airport spokesman Teo Postelnicu said.

A Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome landed safely at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport at around 9:30 a.m., escorted by Italian air force fighter jets, according to an airport official with knowledge of the situation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

An emailed bomb threat had been received, and security clearance procedures by police bomb disposal experts were completed, with no explosives found, the official said.

A flight to Warsaw landed in Vienna following a mail to Polish authorities containing an abstract threat, said Stefan Loidl, a police spokesperson in Lower Austria province. Nothing was found and the plane continued to Warsaw.

He said there was also an abstract threat to Vienna Airport concerning four other flights, which he declined to identify, but operations were not disrupted.

Polish authorities checked a LOT flight that was about to depart from Warsaw to Paris on Thursday morning after a threat was reported at Warsaw’s Chopin Airport, said airport spokesman Piotr Rudzki. No threat was ultimately identified. One runway at Chopin airport was temporarily closed while authorities carried out standard security procedures.

Three Ryanair flights bound for Sofia, Bulgaria, had to make emergency landings because of bomb threats on board. Two of the flights, one from Copenhagen, Denmark, and the other from Madrid, landed safely at Sofia’s Vasil Levski Airport, airport officials told reporters. The third Sofia-bound flight, from London’s Stansted Airport to Sofia, had been diverted and landed safely at the airport in Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second-largest city, Plovdiv Airport CEO Krassimir Peshev said.

Several flights across Europe received hoax bomb threats earlier this week that prompted searches, diversions and, in one case, an escort by the Italian air force until landing, officials said.

The flights included Polish airline LOT, Scandinavian Airlines, Wizz Air and Ryanair. The hoax threats came after a plane headed for Bulgaria was diverted to Hungary after receiving a similar bomb threat while in the air. No one was injured.

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Charlton reported from Paris and Biller from Rome. Associated Press writers throughout Europe contributed to this report.

An Aer Lingus Airbus A320 aircraft is seen at Evreux military air base after a flight from Dublin to Rome was diverted to France amid reports of bomb threats targeting multiple flights across Europe, in Evreux, France, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

An Aer Lingus Airbus A320 aircraft is seen at Evreux military air base after a flight from Dublin to Rome was diverted to France amid reports of bomb threats targeting multiple flights across Europe, in Evreux, France, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)