Cristiano Ronaldo saw red in more ways than one for Portugal in their 2-0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland on Thursday night.The footballing icon was shown a straight red card on 61 minutes for a wild elbow on Irish defender Dara O’Shea.It was a night of red mist for Ronaldo in DublinGettyAnd it could mean that he misses Portugal’s first game of the 2026 World Cup, should he receive a two-game ban.The first of the possible suspension would come on Sunday in their final qualifier against Armenia and then the next competitive game would be in North America next summer.Ronaldo got himself involved in a scuffle in the box, with Portugal trailing 2-0 to Ireland in their World Cup qualifier.He was pushed around by O’Shea and eventually lost his cool, throwing a forceful elbow into his opponent’s back. O’Shea dropped to the ground in pain and Ronaldo went on to get booked for his aggressive behaviour. Eventually though, VAR would take a look at the incident and after watching multiple replays, the referee changed his mind. He walked back onto the pitch after a look at the monitor and showed the icon a red card, much to the home fans’ delight. A huge cheer came from the stands at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin as Ronaldo was given his marching orders. And as he was leaving the pitch, he then sarcastically raised his hands to clap the Irish supporters jeering him and also opted to stick two big thumbs up towards them too.Before his red card, further footage showed the Portuguese superstar appearing to mock O’Shea with a crying expression, pretending to wipe tears away from his face in his direction.Ronaldo was shown a straight red card just after the hour mark in the gameView Tweet: https://t.co/xtRaJWrHX0First time for everythingRonaldo’s red card for Portugal was his first for his country. In his 226th appearance for A Selecao, he received his first-ever sending off on the international stage. Throughout his whole career, he had only been red-carded 12 times, adding a 13th to his small unwanted collection.It was Ronaldo’s first red card since April 2024, when he was given his marching orders against Al Hilal. That sending off was also for violent conduct, as he appeared to throw another elbow before being jeered off the pitch.That time though, it was Lionel Messi chants rather than boos…Ronaldo had never been sent off for Portugal beforeGettyA broken promiseRonaldo’s nightmare evening in Dublin ironically came after he made a promise to be ‘a good boy’ in the fixture.In the reverse fixture between Portugal and Ireland, the Al Nassr forward celebrated in the face of Jake O’Brien.The Irish fans were left raging and that meant he was expecting a rough reception from the supporters. He said ahead of the match: “It will be tough. I hope they don’t boo me too much… I swear that I’m going to try to be a good boy.”However, Ronaldo ended up being the complete opposite, with the red mist descending on him in the game. Ireland went on to secure a 2-0 win, with two goals from Troy Parrott keeping their World Cup qualification hopes alive.