Entering his likely final World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo is making the case that his Saudi move hasn’t slowed him down.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s sixth World Cup is already rewriting a familiar question: does age and a major league change still leave room for elite performance?. As Portugal prepare for next month’s showcase. the star forward is arriving with a consistent scoring track record in Saudi Arabia and an equally steady role for his national team.
Ronaldo. who turned 41 in February. is now in what could be his final World Cup. the first he has entered since leaving Europe to play in Saudi Arabia.. The shift. made late in 2022. surprised much of the soccer world and fueled doubts about whether his production would suffer after stepping away from the sport’s traditional top-tier competition.
Portugal coach Roberto Martínez said those concerns don’t match what he’s seeing in training and matches.. He described Ronaldo as still hungry and said there were no signs of a slowdown. pointing to the forward’s ongoing contributions to the national team rather than past achievements.. In Martínez’s view. the hunger that persists after winning “everything” is rare. and it’s also what helps define Ronaldo’s present-day value to Portugal.
Ronaldo’s standing in the international game is already historic.. He and Lionel Messi are set to reach the milestone of playing in six World Cups. a benchmark that underscores Ronaldo’s longevity at the highest level.. He is also the all-time leader in men’s national team appearances and goals. with 226 appearances and 143 goals. and he is the only player to have scored in five different World Cups.
Martínez added that Ronaldo’s leadership and experience come with expectations similar to those held for any player in the squad—demands grounded in what a teammate can contribute now.. That framing matters because Ronaldo’s path to the World Cup has been anything but conventional: his club future changed dramatically. but his national-team output has remained a central part of Portugal’s plans.
Ronaldo moved to Saudi Arabia during the middle of the 2022-23 season after his most recent stint with Manchester United. and he rejected other offers that were reported to include a salary of $200 million a year.. He said at the time that his work in Europe was done and portrayed the decision as a new challenge and an opportunity to offer a different vision of Saudi football and its wider appeal.
The backlash was immediate. Fans and pundits criticized what they saw as a choice driven by money rather than competitive ambition. Some commentators framed the move as a type of winding down—an almost ceremonial retreat from the sharpest tests in elite European leagues.
Ronaldo has pushed back on that narrative for years. repeatedly praising the Saudi league and insisting that critics should experience it themselves.. He has argued that the competition there is more challenging than detractors suggest. including by invoking the difficulty of playing in extreme temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius.. In an interview with Piers Morgan last year. he also said the numbers don’t lie. and he pointed to his own scoring comparisons. arguing that it is easier to find the net in Spain than in Saudi Arabia.
Despite the shift in clubs, Ronaldo’s international form has not mirrored the skepticism.. Reportedly, he has continued at a high level for Portugal, scoring 25 goals in his last 30 games with the national team.. That matters in World Cup preparation because it offers Portugal a reliable goal-scoring presence even as the tournament approaches.
His recent tournament-level record has been mixed.. Ronaldo went scoreless in five European Championship games in 2024 as Portugal reached the quarterfinals.. Still. the following season brought an international title milestone: in 2025. about two and a half years after he began playing in Saudi Arabia. Ronaldo helped Portugal win the Nations League.. He scored eight goals in the competition, including one in the final against Spain.
Behind the scenes, Ronaldo’s case for continued impact also leans heavily on physical readiness.. He has maintained what has been described as top condition at 41. though he was hindered by a hamstring injury sustained in late February before recovering relatively quickly.. On May 7. he reached a significant club marker by scoring his 100th Saudi Pro League goal in his 105th league appearance for Al Nassr.
That club momentum has come with team stakes as well.. Al Nassr has a chance to win its first league title since 2019. and Ronaldo’s recent output has kept him at the center of that pursuit.. His teammate João Félix. speaking earlier this year. described Ronaldo’s work rate as unique and said that seeing him at 40 still doing what he does provides extra motivation for the squad.
Ronaldo’s Saudi success is reflected across multiple seasons.. In his debut season in 2022-23, he scored 14 goals in 16 matches.. In his first full season, he netted 35 goals in 31 games and set a new scoring record in the league.. Al Nassr also won its first Arab Club Champions Cup in 2023. with Ronaldo scoring a pair of goals in the final.
In the 2024-25 season, he scored 25 goals in 30 matches, and so far this season he has found the net 26 times in 29 appearances. He was also the league’s top scorer in both of his first two full seasons, and he is now five goals shy of Al Ahli’s Ivan Toney.
While club and national-team production have stayed strong, Ronaldo’s long-term horizon remains less clear.. He has said this will definitely be his last attempt at winning the World Cup. but it remains uncertain how much longer he will keep playing.. Martínez. meanwhile. said it would be unwise to make predictions about Ronaldo’s future. describing how quickly the forward has learned that plans don’t always hold in his own career and how he doesn’t make plans in the way others might expect.
As the tournament nears. Ronaldo’s argument is essentially practical rather than theoretical: he has scored consistently after the Saudi move. and he has continued delivering for Portugal when it counts.. Whether this sixth World Cup becomes his final chapter or another stop in a still-unfolding career. the immediate message from his camp is clear—he is still thriving. and Portugal is betting that the momentum will travel with him to the world stage.
Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal soccer Saudi Pro League World Cup 2026 Roberto Martínez Al Nassr