Why Cristiano Ronaldo may not play for Portugal in the upcoming EURO 2024 Qualifiers?

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Cristiano Ronaldo has continued his excellent vein of form for Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League and other tournaments.

The veteran has been racking up goals for fun and has been prolific this season for both club and country. Ronaldo's stellar outing this season sees him already netting 13 goals in the Saudi league, whereas he has scored for fun while playing in Portugal colours as well.

Ronaldo scored 4 goals and made one assist in Portugal's last two international matches. He scored a brace each against Slovakia and Bosnia in the EURO 2024 qualifiers last month. The 38-year-old continued that with 5 goals and 3 assists in the next five matches for Al Nassr across all competitions.

Amid this excellent form, here comes the next international break. Portugal are in action as they play their final two EURO 2024 qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Iceland respectively.

The match against Liechtenstein is on Friday (November 17), and then Iceland will be coming to Lisbon on November 20.

Although the Portugal coach Roberto Martinez is yet to announce his squad for the upcoming matches, there is a possibility of Cristiano Ronaldo's omission from the squad.

Why Cristiano Ronaldo may not play for Portugal in the EURO 2024 Qualifiers?

There is a good chance that Cristiano Ronaldo may not be included in the squad by Roberto Martinez. Although Ronaldo is a prolific player for Portugal and has been a stellar performer in national colours, he may not be playing in the final two matches for their EURO qualifiers.

The very reason for that is Portugal's status in the qualifiers. In Group J, Portugal have already racked up 24 points after eight matches. With just two matches remaining, the 2016 EURO Champions have already booked their berth for the tournament next year. The 2nd placed team Slovakia have 16 points after eight matches, hence Portugal's summit spot is secured.

Hence, there is a good chance that Robert Martinez will aim to shuffle the squad and give chances to some fringe players. Cristiano Ronaldo's workload at this age has been superb already, and he may well be getting a couple of weeks off from the action.