Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro is a Portuguese professional football player and is considered one of the greatest players in the sport. He plays forward for Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr football club and captains the Portuguese national team. He has also played for Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus. He is the highest goal scorer in history, with 819 goals in 1,144 games.

In 2020, Ronaldo became the first active team sport player to surpass $1 billion earned during their career.In both 2016 and 2017, Ronaldo was ranked the world's highest paid athlete by Forbes, and he has been in the top three every year since 2014. From 2016 to 2019, he was ranked the world's most famous athlete by ESPN. Time included him on their list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2014.

Ronaldo signed a $1 billion lifetime deal with Nike in 2016 and has had endorsement deals with Altice, Herbalife, MTG, DAZN, Abbott, and Unilever. In 2013, he launched his own brand, CR7, which includes clothing, shoes, fragrances, hotels, and gyms.

9 Times Cristiano Ronaldo Impressed The World

In 2015, Cristiano Ronaldo was named the best Portuguese player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation. Ronaldo has won five Ballon d'Or awards and four European Golden Shoes, also known as the Golden Boot. He has been named Portuguese Footballer of the Year ten times, UEFA Best Player in Europe four times, and Best FIFA Men's Player twice. He has won the FIFA Puskas Award once. He also helped Portugal win Euro 2016.

Cristiano Ronaldo played for Portugal in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022 FIFA World Cup competitions, becoming the captain of the national team in 2008. He has scored eight goals in twenty-two matches across all five events and is the first man to score in five FIFA World Cups.

Cristiano Ronaldo being presented at the Marsool Park stadium as an Al Nassr player. Photograph: Abaca Press/Alamy

After canceling his contract with Manchester United in a mutual agreement with the club, Cristiano Ronaldo signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr on December 28, 2022. The contract is the highest in football history at approximately $210 million a year. He also is quoted as saying that “in Europe, my work is done.”

Cristiano Ronaldo signed a four-year contract with the Italian football club Juventus in 2018 in a transfer worth about $132 million. He left Juventus in May 2021 and returned to Manchester United; however, his return did not go well, and in November 2022, his contract was terminated by “mutual agreement.” In December 2022, he signed with the Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr.

Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo signed with Real Madrid in 2009 in the most expensive association football transfer in history at $131.5 million. There, he won fifteen trophies, including two La Liga titles, two Copas del Rey, and four UEFA Champions League titles, and he became the club's all-time top goalscorer. He finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or three times, behind Lionel Messi, before winning back-to-back Ballons d'Or from 2013-2014 and again from 2016-2017. After winning a third consecutive Champions League title in 2018, Ronaldo became the first player to win the trophy five times. He finished his Real career with 311 goals in 292 matches.

Cristiano Ronaldo signed with Manchester United in 2003 at age eighteen. He won the Golden Shoe award for scoring thirty-one league goals during the 2007-2008 season. In May 2008, he won the FIFA World Player of the Year. In 2009, he was transferred to Real Madrid in a record-breaking deal worth about $121 million.

After winning the FA Cup in his first season, he helped Manchester United win three successive Premier League titles, the UEFA Champions League, and the FIFA Club World Cup. In 2008, he won his first Ballon d'Or when he was only twenty-three years old.

Cristiano Ronaldo's partner is Georgina Rodriguez, and he is the father of six children. He is the father to Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. (mother not disclosed) and twins Eva Maria and Mateo Ronaldo (born via surrogate). He is also father to three children with his partner Rodriguez, Alana Martina, and twins Bella and Angel. Angel died during birth.

Cristiano Ronaldo was born and raised in Madeira, Portugal. Ronaldo began his senior club career playing for Sporting CP before signing with Manchester United in 2003 at age eighteen.

Ronaldo’s mother is Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro, and his father is José Dinis Aveiro. He was the equipment manager for a local football club, Andorinha. His father added Ronaldo to his son's name in honor of Ronald Reagan, the U.S. president when Cristiano was born and his father's favorite actor. When he was fifteen, Ronaldo had surgery for a heart condition and recovered fully. He played for Clube Desportivo Nacional of Madeira and then transferred to Sporting CP, where he played for that club’s various youth teams before making his debut on Sporting’s first team in 2002.