Article by Daniel Scorpie – Published Friday, May 22, 2026, 11:40 a.m. / Updated Friday, May 22, 2026 11:41 a.m.
Cristiano Ronaldo he has passed 41 springs, but he has not lost his appetite for goals nor his hunger for trophies. The Portuguese continues to rejoice like a child when he scores, cries when he loses or misses, does not hold back his tears when a dream comes true.
Last night, he broke another taboo and won the first trophy in Saudi Arabia. He wanted not only to beat the big drum, but also to send a message across the Ocean to Messi, with whom he has the most beautiful and longest rivalry in the history of football and which we are still privileged to witness. Cristiano felt he owed it, that Messi had offered something more beyond the glitter of several Ballon d'Ors.
“Benjamin Button” is preparing for the sixth World Cup!
He needed 100 goals plus a “double” with Damac, the former club of Cosmin Contra, Nicolae Stanciu and Florin Niță, for Cristiano to become champion with Al-Nassr only in his fourth season. Ronaldo thus blew the title away from Benzema and Simone Inzaghi and put his 35th trophy on display, the first that counts in the Gulf, ignoring that Arab Champions Cup.
He won the Champions League five times, as many Ballons d'Or, three trophies with Portugal, eight titles in England, Spain, Italy and now in Saudi Arabia. He is Real Madrid's all-time top scorer, in the history of Portugal, in the history of the Champions League, in the history of national teams and the most prolific scorer in the world of football. But he doesn't want to stop at all!
As he himself said, Cristiano is not obsessed with records, they follow him. And he still has 27 turns to the legendary mile in a crazy race started in October 2002, also with a “double”, at Sporting where Boloni had just made his debut against Inter in the Champions League. Ronaldo wore 28 on his shirt, and Marius Niculae was the owner of the club.
The “arrow” since then has been in the quiver for ten years, but the Portuguese can't get enough of football. He refuses to talk about retirement day like he's the Benjamin Button of football. Preparing for his sixth World Cup, the Portugal captain stayed on the hook and, with the same ambition and drive, set his sights on reaching No. 1 in Saudi Arabia as well. It proved that age remains only a number and that limits are indeed made to be crossed.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored more goals after 30 years
Siiiiiiiu and his famous jump after changing the scoreboard made him champion even where he seemed doomed to win nothing (five years had passed since the Coppa Italia with Juventus). We saw Cristiano again scoring from a free kick and displaying his predatory instincts intact in front of goal last night. For him, it is never a chore to be the leader, the goal man or the work horse when things are not going well. He resisted, endured the criticism and ironies of those who asked him to leave or even abandon.
Cristiano only changed places after he was sure he had completed his mission and left behind pages of glory. The striker with 450 goals for Real Madrid – almost half of his entire career, in which he scored more after the age of 30 – could not leave a job unfinished in Riyadh. He didn't celebrate (because of a stupid own goal) in the derby with Al-Hilal, but he made up for it in the very last stage. Save the best for last.
Standing ovation at the change, Ronaldo cried like a baby, hugged everyone at the end. He took pictures and was happy as at the first trophy in his career. Then, the light went out, he asked for the big drum from the lawn, sat down with it in the mouth of the goal, where, with one knee on the grass, he beat the rhythm of the celebration in the stadium like a bullfighter. It was like an open lesson in joy for the fans in Riyadh, who had not celebrated anything since 2019, when CR7 won the first Scudetto.
Cristiano still lacks the world title and a season to a thousand goals scored. Will 2026-2027 really be the last?
The ritual conquered the Saudis, the jerky shots seem to score the remaining goals up to 1,000. The countdown will continue on and after the North American tour that starts in 20 days. All he needs is the world title and one last season before retirement.
Will 2026-2027 really be the last and we will only see CR7 in commercials and social media? Will he be the first to leave the stage, as happened with Federer and Nadal, these Ronaldo and Messi of tennis (the order remains to be chosen)? Regardless of the scenario, there will never really be an epilogue. Cristiano continues to beat the big drum!
