Al Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo and workforce members have a good time with the trophy after successful the Saudi Professional League at Al Awwal Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Might 21, 2026. — Reuters
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 ahead 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 night time 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 kingdom to nice acclaim in 2023, wept as he watched the ultimate minutes from the bench.
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 seek 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 web.
Subsequent up for the all-time main males’s worldwide goalscorer, with 143 objectives, 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 sequence 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 comply with after Ronaldo inked a two-and-a-half-year deal estimated at 200 million euros, prolonged for 2 years in June 2025.
The acknowledged intention 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 economic system from oil and entice enterprise and vacationers, partly through the thrill of sports activities.
With a document 664 million Instagram followers, Ronaldo has been a extremely seen 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 greatest 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.
Among 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 break up the game.
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 workforce Al Hilal.
Al Hilal and Al Nassr had been among the many steady 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 dissatisfied on Saturday, when Al Nassr misplaced to Gamba Osaka within the AFC Champions League Two closing.
