Cristiano Ronaldo has lifted league trophies in England, Spain, Italy, and now Saudi Arabia. He owns five Champions League rings, a European Championship medal, and more individual awards than most players have career starts. Yet as he lands in North America for his sixth World Cup, the one piece of silverware that has always eluded him remains the ultimate prize.
The 41-year-old forward just wrapped up a 2025-26 campaign with Al Nassr that produced 28 league goals — his second-best output since moving to the Saudi Pro League. On the final matchday, with the title on the line and seven years of frustration hanging over the club, Ronaldo delivered a brace at Al Awwal Park to secure the Roshn Saudi League crown. That trophy marked his first top-flight title since leaving Juventus in 2021, and it silenced whatever doubts lingered about whether the game’s most decorated active player could still carry a team.
Now the focus shifts entirely to the World Cup. Portugal opens Group K play Wednesday against DR Congo, and the betting markets have Roberto Martinez’s side among the favorites. The squad is stacked with talent: Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, and a trio of RSL stars including reigning Player of the Season Joao Felix, plus Al Hilal duo Ruben Neves and Joao Cancelo. But the gravitational pull of Ronaldo — even at 41 — remains undeniable.
Martinez told The Athletic before the tournament that Ronaldo is “a unique footballer that has changed the game,” adding that “his commitment to the game is still an example for many young players. Twenty-one years of service to the national team, 227 games … no other player has done that.” Ronaldo holds the men’s international scoring record with 143 goals and shows no signs of slowing down.
Portugal’s best World Cup finish with Ronaldo came in 2006, when they reached the semifinals in Germany. Since then, the deepest run has been the quarterfinals in Qatar. This time, the supporting cast is arguably stronger than any he has played with on the international stage, and the leadership — both from Martinez and from Ronaldo himself — feels more seasoned.
There is a poetic symmetry at play here. Ronaldo collected his 100th RSL goal during the title run, also supplied the league’s Goal of the Season, and now steps onto the World stage with a domestic trophy fresh in his hands. For a player who has completed almost every challenge the sport offers, the World Cup remains the final frontier. Whether he crosses it will define how history remembers the final chapter of an unmatched career.
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