Portugal assigns Ronaldo's No. 7 jersey to Rafael Leão

Portugal’s national team has awarded Rafael Leão, a squad member, the number 7 jersey, traditionally worn by star Cristiano Ronaldo, after the team’s roster for the Euro 2020 match against Denmark was announced without Ronaldo. Ronaldo had left the national team’s training camp the previous day in protest of coach Jorge Jesus’s comments regarding his exclusion from Portugal’s match against Norway in the tournament. UEFA regulations for championship matches require 23 players with sequential numbers from 1 to 23, with no gaps; accordingly, Leão switched from his previous number 17 to number 7, while forward Fábio Silva, upon being included in the official squad, received number 17. Leão had worn number 7 during his youth international career with Portugal, before donning numbers 15 and 17 with the senior national team. This marks the first time since he began wearing number 7 nearly 19 years ago with Portugal and various clubs throughout his professional career that Ronaldo will not wear his iconic and trademark “CR7” shirt.