Joao Felix Spares Ronaldo’s Blushes After Years of Flops at Chelsea and Milan

• Joao Felix scored the only goal in Portugal’s 1-0 win over Wales, deflecting a long-range strike in off Ben Davies to give new manager Jorge Jesus a winning start.
• Felix cost Atletico Madrid a reported €126m in 2019, then failed to convince Chelsea on a permanent move and managed just three goals in 21 games on loan at AC Milan before joining Al Nassr.
• Cristiano Ronaldo missed a close-range volley and had a second-half goal disallowed for offside at the stadium where his professional career began 24 years ago.

The Al Nassr Forward Says Playing Behind Cristiano Ronaldo as a Second Striker Is Finally Bringing the Best Out of Him

Joao Felix has spent six years being told what he should have become. The €126m teenager who left Benfica for Atletico Madrid in 2019 was supposed to be the heir to a generation of Portuguese attacking talent, not a player who, two clubs later, was still searching for a settled position. Chelsea signed him on a permanent deal last year and could not find a way to use him. AC Milan took him on loan for the second half of last season and got three goals in 21 appearances. When Portugal gathered this week for Jorge Jesus’s first match in charge, Felix looked like a player auditioning for his international future as much as his new manager’s system.

He scored the only goal of a 1-0 win over Wales, in the same stadium where Cristiano Ronaldo’s professional career began 24 years ago, and then explained afterwards why one tactical change had made the difference.

A Benfica Prodigy Turned €126m Problem

Felix left Benfica for Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2019 as one of the most expensive teenagers in the history of the sport. The fee alone made him a target for criticism before he had kicked a ball in La Liga, and he never fully answered it. Diego Simeone’s Atletico is built around defensive structure and directness in attack, and Felix, a player who thrives on space and improvisation, never settled into it. Years of loan spells and mixed form followed, and by the time Chelsea made their move, he arrived with a reputation as a supremely talented forward who could not be trusted with a settled role.

Chelsea signed him permanently last summer for a reported £46m, only for the move to fall apart almost immediately. He failed to convince manager Enzo Maresca of his value inside a crowded attacking group, and by January he had moved on loan to AC Milan for the rest of the 2024-25 season. Milan did not fare much better with him. Felix managed three goals in 21 appearances in all competitions, and the club made clear in the summer that they had no interest in signing him permanently.

Felix’s next move took him out of Europe’s traditional powerhouses entirely. He joined Al Nassr in a deal worth a reported £43.7m, made up of an initial £26.2m fee and £17.5m in potential add-ons, signing a two-year contract to line up alongside Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia.

A Fresh Start Under a New Manager

Friday’s win was Jesus’s first competitive match in charge of the national team. The veteran coach was appointed in July 2026 to replace Roberto Martinez, who left the role after Portugal’s exit from the World Cup, and was handed a contract running through to the 2030 World Cup. Jesus arrived with decades of club experience in Portugal and Brazil, and Friday’s performance in Lisbon, built on pressing and territorial dominance rather than the more cautious approach of his predecessor, offered an early glimpse of how he wants his Portugal side to play.

A Deflected Strike Gives Jorge Jesus a Winning Start

None of that history mattered much once Portugal kicked off their Nations League campaign against Wales at the Estadio Jose Alvalade. Felix’s decisive goal arrived in the 22nd minute, a long-range strike that took a deflection off Ben Davies and deceived goalkeeper Danny Ward on its way in. It was enough to separate the two sides for the entire match.

Ronaldo, playing at the ground where his professional career began 24 years ago, could not add to the scoreline himself. He missed a close-range volley in the first half and saw a second-half effort ruled out for offside. Wales pushed for a leveller late on, hitting the crossbar through Brennan Johnson, before Ruben Dias produced a block to deny Lewis Koumas from the rebound and protect Felix’s goal as the winning margin.

Felix on the Role That Finally Fits

Speaking to Sport TV after the final whistle, Felix credited the result to how quickly the squad had adapted to Jesus’s approach, even though the group had barely trained together under the new manager. “We knew it wouldn’t be an easy game; Wales are a good side,” he said. “The first match under a new manager is always difficult, and we had very little time to work on the gaffer’s patterns of play, but I think that overall we played a great match and deserve credit.”

He pointed to the aggression of Portugal’s approach as the difference-maker. “I think you could see our approach: very attacking football, pressing high, not giving the opposition any room to breathe,” he said. “We registered 13 shots before half-time, which is a lot for a first half. I can’t recall a single clear-cut chance for them, while we had several. This is what people can expect: attacking football, pressing, not letting opponents breathe, and creating chances. We only scored one today, but in the upcoming games, if we keep going like this, we’ll surely score more.”

The most telling comments came when Felix was asked about his position. Deployed as a second striker just behind the central forward rather than out on the wing, where he has often been asked to play for club and country alike, he described it as the only role that has ever consistently worked for him. “I’ve always been myself; I’ve always tried to do my best for the team regardless of where I played,” he said. “As I’ve always said, my position is right here, as a second striker. When that happens, things are much more likely to go well. That’s what happened last year. Today was a good performance from the entire team, and that is where I can help them the most.”

A Tougher Test Awaits in Norway

Jesus will need more than one good half to be convinced his attack is settled. Portugal spurned several clear chances against a Wales side missing a long list of first-choice players to injury, and the manager will demand sharper finishing when the defending Nations League champions travel to face Norway on Sunday, a far sterner test than their opening fixture. Erling Haaland’s side represent one of the toughest away assignments in the group, and Jesus will not have long to find fixes for whatever did not work in Lisbon. It also raised the stakes for Sunday’s trip to Norway. A win in Oslo would give Jesus two victories from two games in charge and an early statement of intent in a Nations League group his side are defending as reigning champions, while a poor result would invite the kind of scrutiny that greeted Martinez in his final months. Portugal have not lost to Norway in their most recent meetings, but Haaland’s scoring record for his country makes any trip to Oslo a genuine test of the defensive discipline Jesus is trying to instill alongside the attacking freedom he gave Felix on Friday.

For Wales, the outlook is bleaker. Craig Bellamy’s side extended their winless run to five matches in 2026, and pressure is mounting on a manager who took the job with tournament ambitions after Wales’s near miss on qualification in recent cycles.

A Frustrating Night for Ronaldo

Ronaldo, winning his 234th international cap, produced more shots than anyone else on the pitch but could not add his name to the scoresheet. He failed to convert a close-range chance after a Ruben Neves cross midway through the second half, saw a low finish ruled out for offside by VAR shortly after the hour mark, and put a free-kick straight into the wall before being replaced late on. Bruno Fernandes summed up the wider problem in front of goal afterwards: “We controlled it and had a lot of chances but were not capable of scoring more.”

What Felix Still Has to Prove

One goal for his country will not erase six years of clubs failing to get the best out of Joao Felix, and it will not answer the question of whether Al Nassr and the Saudi Pro League represent a destination or a resting point in his career. But it does something else: it gives him evidence, in his own words, for an argument he has been making about himself in the years following his departure from Benfica. Played centrally, given license to drift into pockets rather than track back down a touchline, he still looks like the player Atletico Madrid paid a fortune for in 2019.

Whether Jesus keeps building his attack around that role will say more about Felix’s international future than any transfer fee has managed to in half a decade of trying.