Portugal hand Carlos Forbs number seven for Denmark match as Rafael Leao waits in the wings

Carlos Forbs will wear Portugal’s number seven shirt against Denmark on Saturday, with Rafael Leao absent through injury and expected to be the long-term successor to Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Club Brugge winger has been selected by manager Jorge Jesus to take the famous shirt in the UEFA Nations League meeting, which forms part of the competition’s fifth round and will be played in Braga.

Forbs’ assignment is expected to be temporary. Portuguese newspaper A Bola reports that Leao is the leading candidate to inherit the number permanently once he returns to the squad.

Ronaldo announced his international retirement at the start of November, bringing an end to a 23-year Portugal career. The former Real Madrid and Manchester United forward had worn number seven consistently since UEFA Euro 2008, helping make it one of the most recognisable symbols in the national team’s history.

He leaves international football as the most-capped player in the history of the men’s game, with 234 appearances for Portugal. Ronaldo is also the leading goalscorer in international football, having scored 146 times.

Forbs has worn number seven on previous occasions, while several other players have also used it in Ronaldo’s absence. However, the squad numbering rules for the competition require teams to select numbers from 1 to 23, meaning the shirt had to be assigned to a player in the current group despite Leao being the expected permanent choice.

Leao will miss both of Portugal’s current internationals because of injury, giving Forbs the opportunity to wear the shirt in the first match since Ronaldo ended his international career.

Four players left out of Portugal squad

Jesus has also finalised his matchday squad after naming 27 players in the training camp. Four had to be omitted, including Joao Cancelo, whose absence was compulsory because he is serving a one-match suspension.

The other three omissions include one player from each area of the team. Goncalo Inacio, a defender from Sporting CP, joined the camp at the last moment as a replacement for the injured Tomas Araujo.

Tottenham midfielder Matheus Fernandes, one of the new faces in the squad for this international window, was also left out.

Gustavo Varela of Italian club Monza had been in line to make his Portugal debut, but he is behind Goncalo Ramos and Fabio Silva in the order of preference for the team’s recognised strikers.

Jesus has therefore completed his selection for the Denmark match in Braga. Attention will now focus on Forbs as he takes Portugal’s number seven shirt for the first time since Ronaldo’s retirement, albeit on an interim basis.