Rafael Leao will wear Portugal’s number seven for the first time when they face Denmark in the Nations League on Thursday, just hours after Cristiano Ronaldo left the national team camp.
The winger’s selection has raised questions about whether the Portuguese Football Federation deliberately assigned him the shirt in response to Ronaldo’s departure and the dispute surrounding it. However, UEFA regulations require players named in a Nations League match squad to be assigned numbers from one to 23.
UEFA published Portugal’s player list for the fixture in Copenhagen, confirming that Leao will wear the number associated with Ronaldo for much of his career. The match is Portugal’s third in the group stage of the competition.
Ronaldo, 41, announced on his social media accounts that he had left the Portugal camp after objecting to comments made by manager Jorge Jesus.
Jesus had revealed that Ronaldo was angry after being left on the bench throughout Sunday’s match against Norway. The forward did not play for a single minute, marking an unusual moment in his international career because it was the first time in 18 years that he had remained an unused substitute.
The Portugal manager said he was responsible for deciding the team selection and would not allow Ronaldo or any other player to influence his decisions.
After announcing his departure, Ronaldo travelled by private jet to Madrid. At the same time, his Portugal team-mates went to Parken in Copenhagen for a training session ahead of the Denmark match.
With Ronaldo absent from Portugal’s squad, the number seven shirt had to be given to another player under the competition’s regulations. Leao had worn number 17 during Portugal’s first two matches in the Nations League, but will now use the number most closely linked with Ronaldo while the dispute continues to develop.
The change is therefore required by UEFA’s squad-numbering rules rather than being evidence that the shirt was intentionally reassigned as a response to Ronaldo’s actions.
