Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, born 5 February 1985 in Funchal, Madeira, is a Portuguese forward who captains both Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League and the Portugal national team. Known as CR7, he is considered one of football’s all-time greats. His individual honors include five Ballon d’Or awards, a record three UEFA Men’s Player of the Year titles, four European Golden Shoes, and five FIFA World Player of the Year nods. Over his career, he has won 35 trophies: five UEFA Champions Leagues, two UEFA Nations Leagues, and the UEFA European Championship.

He holds the Champions League records for goals (140) and assists (42), the European Championship records for goals (14) and assists (8), and the men’s international records for appearances (233), goals (146), and victories (141). He is the only player to net 100 goals for four different clubs and to top the scoring charts in four separate domestic leagues. With over 1,300 professional appearances and more than 970 senior goals, he is the all-time leading scorer.

Ronaldo started at Sporting CP, then joined Manchester United in 2003. At United, he won three straight Premier League titles, the 2007–08 Champions League, and the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup, earning his first Ballon d’Or at age 23. In 2009, he moved to Real Madrid for a then-record €94 million. There, he won four Champions Leagues (including La Décima in 2014, when he set a single-season scoring record), two La Liga titles, and Ballon d’Ors in 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017, becoming the club’s all-time top scorer.

After friction with Madrid’s hierarchy, he transferred to Juventus in 2018 for a Serie A-record €100 million, winning two Serie A titles, the Coppa Italia, and the 2021 Capocannoniere as top scorer. He returned to Manchester United in 2021, but his contract was terminated in 2022 after a public dispute. Joining Al-Nassr in 2023, he led them to the 2026 Saudi Pro League title and was the league’s top scorer in 2024 and 2025.

Ronaldo debuted for Portugal in 2003 at age 18, scoring his first international goal at Euro 2004, where Portugal reached the final. He became captain before Euro 2008 and led the team to its first major trophy at Euro 2016. At Euro 2020, he won the Golden Boot. He also won the UEFA Nations League in 2019 and 2025, finishing as top scorer both times. In 2026, he became the first player to score in six World Cups and Portugal’s all-time World Cup top scorer (11 goals). With over 200 caps, he is the most-capped male player ever.

One of the most marketable athletes globally, Sportico ranked him the third highest-paid athlete of all time in April 2026. That same year, Forbes listed him as a billionaire for the first time, with a net worth of $1.2 billion. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in 2014. He is the most popular athlete on social media, with over 1 billion followers across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. He was named to the UEFA Ultimate Team of the Year in 2015, the All-time UEFA Euro XI in 2016, and the Ballon d’Or Dream Team in 2020. FIFA gave him a special Outstanding Career Achievement award in 2021.

Ronaldo was born in Funchal, Madeira, and raised in the Santo António parish. His mother, Maria Dolores, worked as a cook and cleaner; his father, José Dinis, was a municipal gardener and part-time kit man for Andorinha. José served in the Portuguese Army during the Colonial War in Angola and struggled with alcoholism afterward. Ronaldo has Cape Verdean ancestry through his great-grandmother Isabel da Piedade.

He has an older brother, Hugo, and two older sisters, Elma and Liliana “Kátia.” His father, an admirer of U.S. President Ronald Reagan, named him after the president. His mother considered aborting him due to poverty and his father’s drinking, but her doctor refused. He grew up in a poor Catholic home, sharing a room with his siblings, and remains Catholic.

As a child, he idolized Brazilian players Ronaldinho and Ronaldo. He played for Andorinha (1992–1995) and Nacional, then at age 12 joined Sporting CP after a three-day trial, moving from Madeira to Lisbon.