After tying the knot with Georgina RodrÃguez in Cascais a few days ago, Cristiano Ronaldo is now gearing up for the start of the 2026/27 Saudi Pro League.
Al-Nassr open the campaign at home to Al-Fateh later this evening but CR7 won't be involved – coach Ange Postecoglou has decided to ease his star player back after a busy summer both personally and professionally.
One year to run in Riyadh
This will be Cristiano's fifth and possibly last season with Al-Nassr. He signed a two-year extension with the Saudi club last year. We'll see what happens when his current deal expires next June when he will be 42, but he has added a couple of accomplishments to his resume during his time in Riyadh – his first trophy with Al-Nassr was the Arab Club Champions Cup in 2023 and he added the SPL title to his collection last season.
Another league title – one of eight he has won during 25 seasons in the game. Ronaldo has won the league title with every club he has played for bar one – his first club, Sporting CP, who finished third in his one and only season.
At 41 and still going strong, he is one of the most decorated players in soccer history having won 34 major titles with five different clubs. And with Portugal, you can add Euro 2016 and two Nations League titles to the list.
That's the collective achievements, Cristiano's individual numbers and the accolades he's picked up along the way are almost unparalleled.
Cristiano on track to hit 1,000 career goals
During his professional career, he has racked up a total of 976 career goals in 1,330 appearances, and set up a further 261 in assists. Incredibly, his strike rate is still at elite level – an average of 0.73 goals per game. If he keeps that up, he will be in with a serious chance of reaching the 1,000 goal mark. Last season he made a total of 37 appearances for Al-Nassr and bagged 30 goals; with Portugal, he has made seven outings so far in 2026 and added another three goals to his national team and world record, which stands at 146.
He has finished as the top scorer in four of the five leagues he has played in at least once – winning the Premier League Golden Boot (2007–08), the trofeo Pichichi in LaLiga (2010–11, 2013–14 and 2014–15), the Capocannoniere in Serie A (2020–21), and was the Saudi Pro League's top goal scorer in 2023–24 and 2024–25.
Postecoglou hasn't said when Cristiano is likely to return to action but he has been pictured training and so it looks likely to be sooner rather than later. Al-Nassr are away at Al-Riyadh in matchweek 2 and back on the road the following week to face Al-Ettifaq before closing out August at home to Al-Taawoun.
Cristiano is expected to be called up for Portugal, who have six Nations League qualifiers between September and November against Wales, Denmark and Norway. More opportunities to chip away at his task of hitting four figures.
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