World Cup 2026: Ronaldo, after 17 years, faces a player on the field with whom he took a picture as a child!

23.06.26 FT World Cup

Portugal

5

:

Uzbekistan

0

The match between Portugal and Uzbekistan, which ended with a resounding 5-0 victory for the Portuguese national team in the second round of the 2026 World Cup competitions, witnessed a historic moment for two Portuguese players.

• read more: Coupe du monde 2026 : mauvaise nouvelle pour le Sénégal

Before the 2026 World Cup, Rustamjon Ashurmatov and Dostonbek Khamdamov met Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007 and took a picture with him that will go down in history. The poetic aspect of the story is that the players Rustamjon Ashurmatov and Dostonbek Khamdamov had met Ronaldo when they were young boys in the city of Tashkent in 2009. After that, more than a decade and a half after the incident, the two players grew up and became players of the Uzbekistan national team and participated with his country’s team in the current World Cup.

At the time when the two players were only 12 and 13 years old, Ronaldo was holding the Ballon d'Or for the first time in his career, and had just signed with Real Madrid from Manchester United.

Hazem Mlhem |

Editorar, en

Hazem Mlhem est un rédacteur sportif expérimenté, animé par une passion pour le football africain.

Related teams and leagues

Portugal

Uzbekistan

World Cup