The football legend had a limited impact as the team were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by the African side in Houston on Wednesday (17.06.26) but the coach defended his decision not to substitute Ronaldo, 41, despite his lack of influence on the game.

He said: "It makes no sense to get the best goal scorer in world football out in a game that you need goals."

Meanwhile, Martinez was disappointed that Portugal were unable to build on a strong start to the game that saw them take the lead in the opening six minutes.

The Spanish coach said: "We started very, very well, our level, our control, the way we got into the penalty area. Scoring the goal - which is normally a moment when the emotion of scoring helps you keep control of the match and try to score a second goal - had the opposite effect.

"Instead, it made us want to keep possession of the ball. We gave Congo the opportunity to reorganise their defensive structure and set up their counterattacks, and we lost a lot of depth. That helped Congo."

The draw against DR Congo - making their return to the World Cup after 52 years away - was a big disappointment for Portugal but Martinez pointed to past examples of other teams who have been successful at the tournament despite struggling in their opener.

He said: "The World Cup is a tournament where these things happen. Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia [in 2022] and then went on to win the World Cup. In 2010, Spain lost to Switzerland and then won the World Cup. Those weren't performances that looked like those of eventual champions, but that's part of the process."

Martinez continued: "What we're talking about here is the first match of a World Cup.

"Today, after we scored the opening goal, those emotions had a negative effect on our performance. We stopped taking risks, we stopped looking for space, we stopped reaching the final third. That was more a matter of emotion than of tactics or technique. It happens. It's part of the World Cup. Now we evaluate it and improve for the second match."