Man Utd's Cristiano Ronaldo sends defiant message with World Cup dream in the balance

Cristiano Ronaldo has issued a passionate battle cry ahead of Portugal 's crucial week of World Cup qualifiers.

The Manchester United superstar recently became FIFA's all-time record goalscorer with a stunning hat-trick in the Red Devils' 3-2 Premier League win over Tottenham, and he'll be hoping to add to the tally in the coming days. Quite the challenge lays ahead, however, as Portugal's World Cup hopes hang perilously in the balance.

Having missed out on automatic qualification to Qatar after being pipped to Group A top spot by Serbia in controversial fashion, Portugal must negotiate two tricky play-off games to ensure Ronaldo reaches what is likely to be his final World Cup. The Euro 2016 winners must first overcome Turkey before potentially having to beat current European champions Italy to secure qualification.

Ahead of Portugal's clash with Turkey in Porto on Thursday, Ronaldo sent out a defiant message, declaring that his nation will "fight to put Portugal in our rightful place." In an impassioned Instagram post, the 37-year-old wrote: "Total focus on World Cup 2022.

"Proud as always to represent Portugal. We know the road won't be easy, we have the utmost respect for the opponents we will face and who share the same goals as us. But, together, we will fight to put Portugal in our rightful place. Let's do this."

However, Portugal will have to do so without a number of their senior men. Both Joao Cancelo and Renato Sanches will miss the Turkey clash after picking up suspensions and they have been joined on the list of absentees by another four high-profile names.

Ruben Dias and Nelson Semedo are still recovering from injury lay-offs, while Ruben Neves picked up a knock in Wolves ' dramatic defeat to