Cristiano Ronaldo on the Ballon d'Or: "I don't believe in individual awards anymore because I know how much work goes into them."

Spain will face this Sunday, June 8th, Portugal in the Nations League final. Both teams have won the tournament in previous editions, but they arrive with high motivation, as they demonstrated in the semifinals , eliminating Germany and France respectively.

One of the big draws of the match is seeing Cristiano Ronaldo face the Spanish national team again. The Portuguese player turned 40 in 2025 and remains important to Roberto Martínez. This was evident in the semifinals against Germany, where the Portuguese striker gave them the victory by scoring the final 2-1 and playing virtually the entire match.

In the run-up to the Nations League final, it was Cristiano Ronaldo himself who spoke to the media. The captain was asked how he felt about playing against Spain again: “Part of my family is Spanish, and I have a special affection for them. Spain has always been one of the best teams in the world ; they're a very competent team, with midfielders like Pedri . The whole younger generation is emerging, even the coach , who is taking everyone to a high level. I've played against Spain many times, and I hope it's an entertaining match and that Portugal can win,” Cristiano replied.

The Portuguese star was asked a lot about Lamine Yamal , who he said was very talented but asked the press to let him develop in peace, and about who he thought could be the next Ballon d'Or : “Individual awards have lost some consensus; I can't say anything about who should win. In my opinion, those who stand out and win the Champions League should win. But there is no consensus. I don't believe much in individual awards because I know how much work goes into behind the truth . Lamine could win, like Dembélé or Vitinha , other emerging players... But individual awards are irrelevant,” said the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.