Cristiano Ronaldo leads Portugal team-mates as they arrive in Russia

A young Portugal fan gave his national side heroes and Cristiano Ronaldo an emotional send off as they jetted out to Russia for the World Cup on Saturday.

Ronaldo was leading the European champions through Humberto Delgado Airport in the Portuguese capital Lisbon when he was approached by a youngster wearing his shirt.

The Real Madrid star stopped to embrace the kid, posed for pictures and then left him 'crying with happiness' after giving him an autograph before heading for the departure lounge.

His mother told reporters: 'He loves the national team so he is now very happy. He managed to get an autograph from Cristiano Ronaldo and now he is crying with happiness.'

The Real Madrid stars and his team-mates arrived in Moscow on Saturday afternoon, looking as well-groomed as they did before they left their home country.

They wore Portugal flags on their lapels to show their spirit ahead of the highly-anticipated tournament in Russia.

Portugal had jetted out to Russia on Saturday morning as they aim to add the 2018 World Cup to their triumph at Euro 2016 in France.

The squad were suited and booted as they were greeted by supporters ahead of flying out, with stalwarts Pepe and Ricardo Quaresma also among those pictured.

Fernando Santos' side will arrive in Russia in good form after their three warm-up matches for the tournament.

After being held to a 2-2 draw by Tunisia last month, they played out a goalless stalemate with Belgium before thumping Algeria 3-0 on Thursday.

Goncalo Guedes, on loan at Valencia from PSG, bagged a brace with a further strike from Bruno Fernandes ensuring they signed off in style in front of their own fans.

Portugal were drawn in Group B at the World Cup, alongside Iberian rivals Spain and outsiders Morocco and Iran.

Ronaldo and Co begin their campaign against the Spanish in Sochi on June 15.

They then face Morocco on June 20 and Iran five days later.

Portugal will be hoping to perform better than four years ago in Brazil, when they were dumped out at the group stage.

They were thrashed 4-0 by Germany in their opening game before being held by the USA and registering a consolation win over Ghana in the final group match.