Checked reel · 1 Oct 2026
Rafael Leao never gave a press conference claiming he refused the number 7 jersey or was forced to take it. The number swap happened purely because of administrative rules. Under UEFA regulations for the Nations League, each matchday squad of 23 players must be numbered strictly from 1 to 23 with no numbers left blank. When Cristiano Ronaldo left the national team camp, the number 7 had to be assigned to someone else in the 23-man squad, and Leao was assigned the shirt. Social media pages made up the entire quote to create extra drama around Ronaldo leaving the squad.
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