You’d think the hunger would have faded by now, but Cristiano Ronaldo is still out there, defying the dying of the light. Now draped in Al Nassr yellow, the Portuguese icon has just spearheaded his side to their first Saudi Pro League title in seven years, dismantling Damac 4-1 in a fixture that felt more like a coronation. He bagged a brace, naturally. But it wasn’t just the vintage finishing that caught the eye; it was the raw, unfiltered emotion of it all. When that second goal hit the back of the net in the 80th minute, the dam broke. At 41, with 37 career titles to his name, the man affectionately known as ‘El Bicho’ was in floods of tears, dedicating the strike to his family watching on from an Alawwal Park executive box.
It was a proper family affair over in Riyadh. Georgina Rodríguez had chronicled the evening on Instagram, arriving with Eva María, Mateo, Alana Martina, and the youngest of the bunch, four-year-old Bella Esmeralda. By the final whistle, Ronaldo was parading the pitch with Bella in his arms, his winner’s medal dangling as he lapped up the adoration. He’d already thrown a heart gesture up to the VIP stand before being subbed off five minutes from time, later taking to social media to post footage of the trophy lift. His caption read, simple but telling: “It means so much to us.” A million and a half likes swiftly followed.
The numbers backing up this latest chapter are frankly absurd. That brace against Damac took his official career tally to a staggering 973 goals in 1,323 appearances. The mythical 1,000-goal mark, a milestone once thought mathematically laughable in the modern game, is now a genuine reality. And then, of course, there’s the ghost of Rosario. Lionel Messi remains his closest, inescapable pursuer, currently sitting on 910 official goals from 1,153 games. A 63-goal buffer isn’t exactly tight, but with both legends stubbornly refusing to hang up their boots, their era-defining rivalry is still quietly ticking over in the background.
Yet, Ronaldo’s gaze is no longer fixed entirely on the six-yard box. He’s quietly making moves in the boardroom, most notably pulling strings over in Andalusia. It’s been nearly three months since he snapped up a 25% stake in UD Almería through his CR7 Sports Investment vehicle. The deal was heavily smoothed over by his close mate and Al Nassr backer, Mohamed Al Khereiji. Since firing off a couple of Instagram stories to confirm the takeover, Ronaldo has largely kept his head down, letting the football do the talking. Right now, Almería are scrapping for their lives in the promotion playoffs. They properly let automatic promotion slip through their fingers in a 2-1 defeat to Las Palmas, meaning they now need Deportivo de La Coruña to blow two match points to keep their hopes alive.
The logistical overlap of all this is brilliant chaos. While the Almería brass cross their fingers for a lucrative return to the Spanish top flight, their star investor is jetting off across the Atlantic. We are just weeks away from the 2026 World Cup in North America—incredibly, Ronaldo’s sixth and final stab at the only major honour missing from his cabinet. He heads there to lead Roberto Martínez’s golden generation, looking to improve on a World Cup CV that currently reads 22 appearances, 1,764 minutes, and 8 goals.
Curiously, the second leg of the playoff final falls on Sunday, June 21st. It’s the exact same day Spain face Saudi Arabia in the tournament. You can only imagine the split loyalties in the Almería boardroom: willing on the Spanish national side against the very country their president represents and the one their most famous shareholder currently calls home. Whether Ronaldo manages to carve out time to actually visit Almería amid all this madness remains the big question on the terraces. A trip might be on the cards during Phase 2 of the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos renovations, slated to finish by the 2026/27 season. But for now, the Madeira native has slightly bigger fish to fry stateside. The ultimate curtain call awaits.
