Thursday. 21.11.2024

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has tested positive for the coronavirus, the nation's football federation FPF said on Tuesday.

A statement said that Ronaldo "is doing well, without symptoms, and is in isolation."

He was dropped from the squad for Wednesday's Nations League match against Sweden for the title holders and European champions.

The FPF said that all other players underwent new coronavirus tests earlier Tuesday which returned negative.

As a result, they are available for the game against the Swedes in Lisbon which is to go ahead as planned.

The Portugal squad gathered last week and drew 0-0 in a friendly with Spain and in the Nations League at world champions France. Portugal and France are joint top on seven points in Group A3.

Upcoming matches

Ronaldo, 35, will surely also miss upcoming matches of his Italian club Juventus after the positive test. Juve visit Crotone in the Serie A on Saturday and have their Champions League opener next week Tuesday at Dynamo Kiev.

He can only return to action after testing negative again.

The forward is not the first but among the most famous footballers to contract the Sars-CoV-2 virus.

Others include his Juventus team-mate Paulo Dybala; Paris Saint-Germain's Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Angel di Maria and Marquinhos; Paul Pogba of Manchester United and AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Cristiano Ronaldo tests positive for coronavirus