"Revoke his citizenship", "Must never be called up" - Fans slam Portugal star as they lose to Ireland after Cristiano Ronaldo gets sent off

Fans are tearing into Bernardo Silva for his performance during Portugal’s FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Ireland. The Manchester City captain had a quiet outing as Seleção das Quinas fell to a 2-0 defeat in Dublin.

Roberto Martinez’s men had their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification hopes on hold after they were held to a late 2-2 draw against Hungary in October. Portugal started strongly, with Cristiano Ronaldo having some couple of chances of breaking the deadlock early on. However, it was the hosts who opened the scoring as Troy Parrott headed home from close range after Liam Scales nodded Jack Taylor’s corner back across goal.

Portugal kept cranking up the pressure, but it was Ireland who scored the next goal of the game as Parrot doubled his side’s lead on the stroke of halftime. The visitors continued dictating proceedings after the restart, but their woes were compounded when Ronaldo was sent off in the 61st minute for elbowing Dara O’Shea. The sending off did little to inpire more determination from Portugal as Ireland held on to their lead.

Silva, who made his 106th appearance for the Portugal national team, didn’t impress on the night. In the 63 minutes he spent on the pitch, Silva registered zero shots, let alone one on target, and lost possession 14 times. After the match, fans took to X to slam him, with one writing:

“Bernardo Silva must never be called up again.”

Another tweeted:

“Bernardo Silva is finished yet he still plays.”

A third called for the immediate revocation of his citizenship.

“Revoke bernardo’s citizenship immediately,” they wrote. “Dalot starting cuz of injury and silva should be banned from the mainland,” another chimed in.

A fifth summed up the disappointing night, writing:

“Bernardo Silva at RW and Ronaldo in 2025 is a combined age of 86 in football years.”

“It’s a game to forget” – Roberto Martinez on Portugal’s 2-0 loss to Ireland

Portugal national team head coach Roberto Martinez couldn’t hide his disappointment after their shock defeat to Ireland. The Spaniard said his team lacked ‘purpose’ and reassured fans that they would confirm their spot in next summer’s World Cup in their last qualifying match. He told reporters:

“It's a game to forget. It happens in football. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. And it went well for Ireland. We talk a lot about the set piece, the transition, the corner goal. There was a lack of purpose. We showed fight until the end with ten, the last minutes with a lot of heart, but Ireland deserved to win. The strength of the stadium that Ireland had is what we need and we know that we can count on the last qualifying game to confirm our presence in the World Cup.

The Nations League holders need just a point in their last game against Armenia to guarantee qualification for the 2026 World Cup.

Edited by Ezekiel Olamide