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As Cristiano Ronaldo walked off the pitch in tears on Monday night, his dream of one day winning a World Cup over, a new era began on and off the pitch at the Portuguese Football Federation (PFF).
Until last Sunday, there was still some uncertainty about whether this really would be the 41-year-olds last dance, but then Ronaldo announced at Portugals pre-match press conference that this would be his final World Cup.
When and how he eventually says goodbye to Portugals No 7 shirt is, however, still to be confirmed.
By the time Euro 2028 gets underway in the UK and Ireland, Ronaldo will be 43.
Advertisement While Tom Brady, the legendary NFL quarterback, retired from his sport at 45, and Ronaldo looks after his body incredibly well, it seems implausible that he will still be leading the line in two years.
When he departs, it will mean a seismic change for Portugal, on and off the pitch.
A man who has scored 146 goals for his country has long been the face of the Portuguese national team, as he was again at this World Cup in Portugals run to the last 16 before a 1-0 defeat by Spain, featuring front and centre in their promotional material.
With more than one billion followers across his social media platforms, Ronaldo is the most followed person on the planet, and, as Nike will know, he is a shirt-selling and social media engagement machine.
Across more than 20 years of Ronaldo in a Portugal kit, the PFF has tried to capitalise on its advantage.
When you then add to the mix that this World Cup is taking place mainly in the United States the worlds largest commercial market and a country with more than 1.3million people of Portuguese descent, according to a 2023 report by the University of Lisbon then the PFF had the perfect ingredients to market its most celebrated asset.
The man tasked with overseeing this for the PFF is Joao Medeiros Cardoso, who has been its chief marketing and commercial officer for just over a year.
Unsurprisingly, the plan had been to lean into Ronaldos stardom as its executives made commercial plans for this summer.
From the very beginning, when we were starting to think about the strategy, the campaign, the activations, and this was aligned with his team as well, Cardoso tells The Athletic at the Portugal Football Summit in Miami, which took place before Ronaldo said he would not play at another World Cup.
We would be very stupid if we did not take advantage.
Hes one of the most major global brands, and I am including all brands.
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is an interesting market, not only for the PFF, but for his personal CR7 brand.
To find this common approach between both brands is something we started working on from the very beginning.
On one hand, Cardoso is fortunate to have Ronaldo at the forefront of any campaign.
After all, the Al Nassr forward has a bigger reach than anyone on the planet.
But on the other hand, Cardoso had 25 other Portugal players to work with and, as on the pitch, striking a balance between leaning on Ronaldos fame and pushing others forward is not always easy to find.
Its something we are 100 per cent transparent with his (Ronaldos) team, Cardoso adds.
We also receive inputs from his team because he benefits from his relationship with the PFF as well, but to find the right balance is the key.
Cardoso explains how, when the PFF is dealing with a global audience, it needs to use Ronaldos brand and leverage it, but if it is drawing in its domestic market, playing the Ronaldo card is less necessary.
If I am talking with my core audience, maybe I dont need to use Cristiano that much, Cardoso says.
I have a younger generation that I want to start a path with.
We dont struggle with that balance.
Ronaldos eventual retirement, however, does leave the PFF at an interesting crossroads.
While there is no shortage of superb players in their mens senior team Nuno Mendes, Vitinha and Bruno Fernandes, for example nobody else in the squad has transcended football like Ronaldo.
Cardoso insists that whether Ronaldo is on the pitch or off it, he will have a close relationship with the PFF.
Does that mean he will be an ambassador for Portugal during the 2030 World Cup in Spain, Portugal and Morocco? Im 100 per cent sure that he will play a role for 2030, absolutely no doubt, Cardoso says.
And Im not talking about just with the PFF, but with Portugal as a country.
Advertisement Asked if the PFF would consider retiring the No 7 shirt when Ronaldo leaves international football, Cardoso was non-committal.
Thats a political and institutional thing, he says.
I dont know if it has crossed the mind of our president.
I can have my commercial interest on that, but its something that goes way beyond that, so it doesnt make sense to comment.
So how does the PFF mitigate the retirement of a global superstar? Cardosos view is that when Ronaldo does call it a day, it will be about marketing the next stage of his relationship with the national team.
Hes the next Portugal legend, Cardoso says.
We have relaunched the Portugal Legends programme we are using during this World Cup to deploy activations with the Visit Portugal brand, so maybe Cristiano will be part of that.
Maybe he will still open commercial opportunities for the PFF and for himself once he leaves the pitch.
When he takes that decision, we are ready to implement the next steps of the connection between his brand and the PFF brand.
Cardoso notes the PFF will not need to move on from Ronaldo, highlighting the connection between the PFF and national team players to take them into a new era.
But reaching the level of crossover Ronaldo has achieved in popular culture will be nigh on impossible.
And to even compare, Cardoso says, would be unfair on everybody.
We can include Lionel Messi on this, he says.
When we are talking about Messi and Cristiano, we are talking about the most influential people probably in history.
Ronaldo is the most-followed person on earth.
We cannot compare that with anybody else, so we will not have a guy to replace his role in that sense.
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