Ronaldo joins select list of Ireland's pantomime villains, but we'll easily forgive him

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo hands the arm band to team-mate Bernardo Silva after being shown a red card during the 2026 FIFA World Cup European Qualifying, Group F match at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Picture date: Thursday November 13, 2025.

The catalogue of Irish international football’s true pantomime villains is surprisingly slim and contains few household names. Perhaps disappointment and rage is so regularly encountered that we rarely take it too personally. But a few baddies have properly taken centre stage and seized full enemy of the state status, notably…