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Picture Credit: Twitter

The FIFA World Cup 2022 is set to be the last global tournament of many footballing legends. This list may also include Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who is considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. But as Ronaldo and Portugal progress into the Round of 16, fans may not want Ronaldo starting against Switzerland. 


As per a poll carried out by Portuguese news outlet A Bola, a big majority of Portugal fans want former Manchester United attacker Cristiano Ronaldo out of the playing eleven of his team’s World Cup last 16 fixture at the Lusail Stadium. 


The survey on the outlet’s website asked fans if Ronaldo should keep his place in Fernando Santos’ starting team for the knockout game against the Swiss on Tuesday. The results said only 30% of supporters responded in Ronaldo’s favour. While the other 70% believe that the 37-year-old should be left out for the pre-quarterfinals fixture. 


This consensus about Ronaldo being out of form received further support as he was included in the Worst XI of the Group Stage by Sofascore. The sports analysis website named a team full of players who had terrible performances in the group stage of the World Cup and included CR7 as one of the two strikers. 


Ronaldo had a rating of just 6.37 on the platform for his performances across three games where he scored one goal with a penalty. The five-time Ballan d’Or winner is joined by  Qatar's forward, Almoez Ali, who failed to score a single goal and was rated only 6.23.


The midfield had Canada's Tajon Buchanan (6.10), Saudi Arabia's Abdulellah Al-Malki (6.15), Qatari Karim Boudiaf (6.30) and Socceroos player Leckie (6.33). The back four included two Costa Rican players in the centre — Francisco Calvo (6.25) and Oscar Duarte (6.30). 


Canadian defender Alistair Johnston (6.40) was listed as the worst right-back, while Qatari fullback Homam Ahmed was placed on the left with a rating of just 6.23. Qatar goalkeeper, Meshaal Barsham also made the list with a 6.10 rating.