Portugal Begins World Cup Journey with Grief and Cristiano Ronaldo

North America had already staged a night for the ages. Lionel Messi walked off with the match ball and another slice of history, a hat-trick that lit up the tournament and dragged the World Cup narrative firmly into his orbit again. Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland weighed in with two goals each, the next generation hammering at the door.

Now the spotlight swivels to another era-defining figure.

Cristiano Ronaldo, still raging against the clock, is set for his first appearance of the summer as Portugal open their campaign against DR Congo in Houston. For him, it is another chapter. For Portugal, it is something deeper.

This is their first World Cup game since the death of Diogo Jota.

Playing for Jota

Jota’s death, in a car crash that also killed his brother André Silva last year, ripped through two dressing rooms and a nation. The Liverpool and Portugal forward had married his long-term partner, Rute Cardoso, less than two weeks earlier. They have three children. The timeline alone still feels cruel.

At Liverpool, players admitted the season had become a blur, football reduced to background noise as they tried to process the loss of a friend. In Portugal’s camp, the wound has not closed. It travels with them.

Roberto Martínez made Jota an honorary member of this World Cup squad, a symbolic gesture that landed heavily in a group that expected him to be on the pitch, not on a list. Prime Minister Luís Montenegro went further, gifting every player a bracelet with their own name alongside Jota’s.

They will wear them tonight at Houston’s NRG Stadium.

“They made sure that it was a wristband that we could wear on the pitch,” midfielder Vitinha told reporters. “He let us choose if we wanted to use it or not, during the day or during the match. We received it with a lot of affection and we chose to use it.”

The choice, in truth, never really felt like a choice. This team carries the usual weight of a golden Portuguese generation at a World Cup. On top of that sits the weight of a promise.

“We feel this and we want to win it, not just because it’s a World Cup and it’s everybody’s dream, but for him as well,” Vitinha told CNN Sports earlier this year.

Tonight, every pass, every sprint, every glance at that bracelet will remind them why they are here.

Ronaldo, the midfield, and a delicate balance

Kickoff in Houston comes at 1 p.m. ET. The emotion will be raw, the anthem thick in the throat. Then the game will demand clarity.

Portugal arrive with a midfield that can smother and dazzle in equal measure. Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha, Bernardo Silva and João Neves form a quartet that many would call the best in the tournament: brains, legs, creativity and control wrapped into one unit.

Hovering in front of them is the question that has followed Portugal for two years: does Ronaldo elevate this team, or slow it down?

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner struggled in Qatar 2022 and ultimately lost his starting place. The decision to drop him then felt seismic. Doing it again now, in a World Cup opener on American soil, would demand serious nerve from Martínez.

Yet Messi’s performance last night lingers in the air. Class doesn’t evaporate. It lies dormant, waiting for the stage to feel big enough again. Ronaldo still knows where the goal is; he always has.

Across from him, DR Congo will not simply play the role of respectful guests. They are underdogs, yes, but not naive ones. Yoane Wissa, sharp and restless, is their spearhead and most obvious goal threat. Around him, the plan is simple: stay compact, stay organized, and wait for Portugal to over-commit.

The game will be framed as a tribute. DR Congo will try to turn it into an ambush.

England, Croatia and 60 years of tension

If Portugal–DR Congo is heavy with emotion, England–Croatia is loaded with history.

At 4 p.m. ET, AT&T Stadium in Arlington hosts two old sparring partners in one of the standout fixtures of the group stage. The matchup was picked as one of the tournament’s 10 must-watch games for good reason.

England arrive with the same soundtrack they always bring: hope, anxiety, and the memory of 1966 looping in the background. Sixty years without a World Cup win, and yet again the squad looks built to go deep.

Thomas Tuchel has put his stamp on this side by making one ruthless call after another. Team chemistry has trumped star power. Cole Palmer and Phil Foden are among the big names left at home, sacrifices to the idea of a tighter, more balanced group.

Even without them, the core is formidable. Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane will lead a team that expects to be in North America for the long haul.

Croatia, though, have long specialised in ruining English summers. They knocked England out in the 2018 World Cup semifinals and have made a habit of thriving when others expect them to fade.

Luka Modrić, 40 years old and still dictating games, remains the conductor. With him on the pitch, Croatia will not be overawed by the noise, the occasion or the English obsession with destiny. They have heard it all before.

Messi’s quiet march through the record book

While England fret and Portugal grieve, Messi continues to rewrite the sport in real time.

His hat-trick against Algeria not only electrified the tournament but also pulled him level with Miroslav Klose as the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer. He spoke modestly afterward, another understated reaction to another staggering milestone.

It is understandable if he has lost count. Records fall around him at such a rate that tracking them would be a full-time job in itself.

One detail stands out: Messi has now scored five World Cup goals from outside the box, matching the record held by Brazilian great Rivellino. Even at this stage of his career, he is still stretching the limits of what is possible on this stage.

Iran’s visa headache finally cleared

Away from the limelight of the marquee fixtures, Iran have been battling bureaucracy as much as opponents.

Because of ongoing political tensions, the team has been based in Mexico, flying into the United States for matches. After Iran’s first game, winger Mehdi Torabi discovered his visa had expired, leaving his participation in doubt.

That cloud has finally lifted. Torabi has been granted a new multi-entry visa by the US State Department, allowing him to play in as many matches as Iran manage this tournament.

“This issue has been resolved,” a State Department official told CNN’s Jennifer Hansler on Tuesday. “As soon as we became aware of the issue, we worked to ensure that the player can participate in every game.”

One less variable for a team already juggling enough.

Ghana, Panama and a chance to reset

At 7 p.m. ET, BMO Field in Toronto hosts Ghana against Panama, a meeting between a fallen contender and a nation still finding its feet at this level.

Panama’s only previous World Cup appearance, in 2018, ended brutally: three games, three defeats, and a 6-1 hammering by England that left scars but also stories. This time, the ambition is more modest but more realistic – secure a first World Cup point, and build from there.

They may see Ghana as their best opening.

For a stretch of the last decade and a half, Ghana looked like Africa’s best bet to lift the trophy. The 2010 quarterfinal in South Africa – and that infamous handball and missed penalty against Uruguay – felt like a hinge moment. Since then, the Black Stars have failed to escape the group stage.

This version of Ghana lacks the attacking firepower of previous generations, but it does have a focal point. Manchester City’s Antoine Semenyo arrives in form and full of confidence, a striker capable of turning half-chances into points.

They will have to cope, though, without Thomas Partey in their opener. The 33-year-old midfielder had his visa application rejected, a decision upheld by a Canadian federal judge earlier this week, according to the Associated Press.

Partey is awaiting trial on rape charges in the United Kingdom. He is expected to be available for Ghana’s remaining two group matches in the US, but for tonight, they go without their most experienced midfielder.

Uzbekistan’s debut and Colombia’s old magic

The late game belongs to a newcomer.

At 10 p.m. ET, under the lights of Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, Uzbekistan finally step onto a World Cup stage they have chased for years. They are the last of this tournament’s four debutants to appear and are aiming to be the only one to win their opening match.

They are guided by a man who knows this competition better than almost anyone: Fabio Cannavaro, Italy’s World Cup-winning captain from 2006. His presence alone gives the White Wolves a certain steel and calm.

On the pitch, defender Abdukodir Khusanov is their standout name. At 22, he has already become a regular starter for Manchester City, impressing in both the Premier League and Champions League. His rise gives Uzbekistan a defensive anchor that many debutants lack.

Colombia, though, bring scars, swagger and a core of players who have danced on this stage before. James Rodríguez, whose explosion at the 2014 World Cup remains one of the great individual campaigns of the modern era, is still the creative hub.

Around him, Luis Díaz provides the chaos. The winger has been one of the most in-form players on the planet this season, a relentless runner and relentless threat. For Uzbekistan, this is the deep end. For Colombia, it is a chance to remind the world what they can be when their talent clicks.

Ebola shadows DR Congo’s moment

As DR Congo prepare for their World Cup bow, a different kind of crisis looms at home.

Health officials fear the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo could become the “worst ever” in the region if it is not contained. More than 800 cases had been confirmed as of Monday, a stark figure even in a country accustomed to health emergencies.

The outbreak is unfolding in a remote yet densely populated area, one already destabilized by insecurity and humanitarian crises. It is driven by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there are no specific treatments or vaccines.

In response, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Homeland Security have introduced entry restrictions and screening for passengers arriving from the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan. No Ebola cases have been identified in the United States, and the World Health Organization rates global risk as low, even as it warns that the danger inside the DRC remains very high.

During the World Cup, US health officials are tracking a range of potential outbreaks, but Ebola is not at the top of their list. Early in infection, the virus does not spread easily. By the time a person becomes highly infectious, they are usually far too sick to travel, let alone attend a match.

For DR Congo’s players, the backdrop is impossible to ignore. They step out in Houston not just as underdogs against Portugal, but as representatives of a country fighting a battle far from the cameras.

On a day when Messi chases records, Ronaldo chases relevance and England chases redemption, DR Congo will chase something simpler: a performance that offers their people a brief, badly needed release.