Gianni Infantino made no secret of his desire to see Cristiano Ronaldo compete at the Club World Cup. The FIFA president even publicly revealed during an interview with CR7 super-fan IShowSpeed last month that some of the participants in the expanded tournament were considering signing the Portuguese forward.
Ronaldo subsequently admitted himself that he had received several offers to "play in the Club World Cup", but ultimately decided that he would be better served by re-signing with Al-Nassr before taking a much-needed break from the game.
"I think it didn't make sense," the 40-year-old told his club's official TV channel, "because I prefer to have a good rest, a good preparation, because next season will be very long, with the World Cup at the end."
Crucially, Al-Hilal didn't think signing Ronaldo made much sense either - and their stunning run to the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup has shown precisely why they were right to avoid the CR7 sideshow...