Cristiano Ronaldo included in Portugal squad set to face Sweden and Slovenia in March international friendlies

Cristiano Ronaldo will join the Portugal national team for the upcoming friendly games against Sweden and Slovenia. The superstar striker, currently playing for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, is part of the 32-man preliminary Portuguese squad for next week's games.

Aside from Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal's roster features Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva, Pepe, Bruno Fernandes and Joao Felix, among others.

Portugal have clinched their spot in Euro 2024, which will be played in Germany in the summer. They will play a couple of friendly games in the final international break of the 2023/24 season before starting their preparation for the continental tournament.

Cristiano Ronaldo preparing for one final tournament run with Portugal

At the age of 39, Cristiano Ronaldo is getting closer to retirement and it appears Euro 2024 with Portugal will be his final one at an international level. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner led the national team to the 2016 UEFA European championship and would want to do the same this summer.

Still, a few fans and former football players believe Portugal should move on from Ronaldo and not pick him in the Euro 2024 squad.

One of them is former France international Frank Leboeuf, who claimed that Portugal would have a great chance of winning Euro 2024 if they left Ronaldo out of the final roster.

"For me, Portugal are actually one of the contenders for this summer's European Championship. I actually think they can win the Euro, but only if Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't play," Leboeuf, who won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000, said during an interview with BetVictor (via Goal).

"You cannot take away anything that Ronaldo has done for football just because he has gone to retire in the Saudi League. I want to thank him for taking the sport to another level, but there is an end for everyone," he added.

Ronaldo appeared in nine of the 10 Portugal games in the Euro 2024 Qualifiers, scoring 10 times. Portugal will play Turkiye, Czechia and the winner of Play-off C in the group stage.