Portugal have made a permanent change to the No 7 shirt to honour the legacy of Cristiano Ronaldo and ensure the number remains forever associated with their greatest footballing icon.
The former forward, whose career spanned 23 years and 246 caps in which he scored 146 goals, announced his retirement on 5 November after a falling out with coach Jorge Jesus. His last appearance for Portugal was on 24 September, in a 1-0 home win over Wales in the Nations League.
Before their Nations League clash against Denmark, Portugal tweeted a unique design change to the iconic No 7 shirt to ensure Ronaldo’s version remains immortalised.
The small change to the number 7 is an acknowledgement of the star’s playing career in which he broke the men’s all-time scoring record. He captained his country to their first major trophy at Euro 2016, before adding two Nations League titles in 2019 and 2025.
Portugal will also pay tribute to Ronaldo before and during their Nations League fixture against Denmark in Braga on Saturday.
“Time to debut a new 7. Because there’s one that will be eternal,” the Portuguese national team wrote on social media on Saturday. The post included a goat emoji to signify “Greatest Of All Time”.
It also included a video that showed a horizontal crossed line through the No 7 as it is commonly written in Europe, suggesting that Ronaldo’s successors will all have that cross to bear when they wear the number .
