Cristiano Ronaldo ends lengthy look forward to Saudi title

Nassr’s Portuguese ahead #07 Cristiano Ronaldo (C) together with teammates have a good time with the trophy after successful the Saudi Professional League title on the finish of their soccer match in opposition to Damac on the Al-Awwal Park Stadium in Riyadh on Might 21, 2026. (Picture by Fayez NURELDINE / AFP)

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Al Nassr clinched the Saudi Professional League title with a 4-1 win over Damac on Thursday, ending his lengthy look forward to home silverware.

A trademark free-kick and a close-range end, each within the closing half-hour, sealed the win Al Nassr wanted on the final evening of the season, with Al Hilal ending simply two factors behind.

Ronaldo, 41, who was with no main membership trophy since successful Serie A with Juventus in 2020, arrived within the oil-rich desert kingdom to nice acclaim in 2023, wept as he watched the ultimate minutes from the bench.

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Nassr and Cristiano Ronaldo.A bond between an ideal membership and a frontrunner who embraced it. 💛 https://t.co/wDg8NHWkIs pic.twitter.com/fi90DSPDJ5

— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) Might 22, 2026

He provides the Saudi championship to his English, Spanish and Italian titles and 5 Champions League medals.

Al Nassr took a 2-0 lead however had been again to 2-1 earlier than Ronaldo’s free-kick on 63 minutes evaded the goalkeeper and a forest of legs to search out the far nook.

He struck once more 9 minutes from time, receiving a cut-back on the sting of the six-yard field and smashing excessive into the online.

Subsequent up for the all-time main males’s worldwide goalscorer, with 143 targets, is a sixth crack on the World Cup after he was named in Portugal’s squad this week.

Desert trailblazer

Ronaldo opened the door to a collection of big-money Saudi signings when he joined Al Nassr in January 2023 following an sad second spell at Manchester United.

Neymar and Karim Benzema had been amongst these to observe after Ronaldo inked a two-and-a-half-year deal estimated at 200 million euros, prolonged for 2 years in June 2025.

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The acknowledged goal was to show the Professional League into one of many world’s high 5 soccer competitions measured by the standard of gamers, stadium attendances and business success. Worldwide curiosity has been muted, nevertheless.

In December 2024, Saudi Arabia was confirmed as host of the 2034 World Cup, a coup because it pushes to decouple its financial system from oil and appeal to enterprise and vacationers, partly by way of the excitement of sports activities.

With a report 664 million Instagram followers, Ronaldo has been a highly-visible ambassador as Saudi Arabia tries to show the web page on the ultra-conservative picture that has outlined it for many years.

The world’s largest oil exporter and residential of Islam has been accused of “sportswashing” — utilizing sport to deflect human rights criticism — because it has invested in Components 1, golf, boxing and tennis alongside soccer.

A number of the extra outlandish spending on financial diversification, together with sprawling vacationer developments and NEOM, a futuristic metropolis within the desert, is being reined in.

This month, Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund mentioned it was exiting the breakaway LIV Golf tour, after reportedly ploughing greater than $5 billion right into a enterprise that cut up the game.

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Costly soccer signings have additionally waned with the stream of big-money transfers slowing to a trickle.

Tears and a protest

Ronaldo was the Professional League’s high scorer in his first two seasons, together with his profession tally now at 973 — tantalisingly near the 1,000-goals milestone.

His Saudi stint has not all the time been easy. In 2024, he was left in floods of tears when Al Nassr misplaced the King’s Cup closing to Al Hilal on penalties, denying him his first Saudi title.

This season, he disappeared from Al Nassr’s line-up for 3 video games in an obvious protest at Benzema’s switch to rival group Al Hilal.

Al Hilal and Al Nassr had been among the many secure of Saudi groups owned by the Public Funding Fund, the nation’s $900 billion sovereign wealth fund.

Earlier than Thursday, Ronaldo’s solely silverware with Al Nassr was the 2023 Arab Membership Champions Cup. He was additionally disenchanted on Saturday, when Al Nassr misplaced to Gamba Osaka within the AFC Champions League Two closing.