Madrid's counter-attacking style of play also allowed him to become a more efficient and consistent player, as evidenced by his record-breaking goalscoring feats. On 23 June 2021, Ronaldo scored two goals in the Euro 2020 match against France, breaking the men's goalscoring record previously held by Ali Daei. Ronaldo finished the 2024–25 season with 25 league goals, becoming the league's top scorer for a second consecutive time.
- Despite scoring 33 goals in all competitions and contributing to Real Madrid’s 96 points in La Liga, his first season with Madrid ended trophyless.
- He scored his first international goal in Euro 2004, where he helped Portugal reach the final and subsequently made the team of the tournament.
- Later that year, on 5 September, he scored his 900th career goal in a 2–1 victory over Croatia in the UEFA Nations League.
- On 21 September 2020, the Sporting CP’s football academy in Alcochete, until then called Academia Sporting, was renamed Academia Cristiano Ronaldo.
- At least 80,000 fans attended his presentation at the Santiago Bernabéu, surpassing the 25-year record of 75,000 fans who had welcomed Diego Maradona at Napoli.
- The following season saw Ronaldo score 60 goals across all competitions, leading Madrid to their first league title in four years with a record 100 points and his runner-up finish to Lionel Messi in the 2011 FIFA Ballon d’Or.
All of Cristiano Ronaldo's 14 red cards for Portugal, Man Utd, Real Madrid, more22dESPN
Ronaldo made his international debut for Portugal in 2003 at the age of 18 and has earned more than 200 caps, making him history's most-capped male player. Following issues with the club hierarchy, Ronaldo signed for Juventus in 2018 in a transfer worth an initial €100 million, where he was pivotal in winning two Serie A titles. He won Ballon d'Ors in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017, and was runner-up three times to Lionel Messi, his perceived career rival. At Madrid, he was at the forefront of the club's resurgence as a dominant European force, helping them win four Champions Leagues between 2014 and 2018, including the long-awaited La Décima.
MORTAGNE-AU-PERCHE
By most measures, Ronaldo’s debut season with Juventus was a successful one. I only have feelings of great gratitude to this club, to the fans and to the city. Ronaldo’s 2016 wins included the European Championship, Champions League, and Club World Cup, plus individual awards from UEFA and France Football magazine. Ronaldo went on to compile an impressive list of individual honors and team trophies. “But it means a new challenge and is going to help me be the betwarts casino login best footballer.” Ronaldo’s commitment to Manchester United had come under constant question, and speculation swirled that he wanted to play elsewhere, so nobody was all that surprised to see Ronaldo leave.
- On 17 May, Ronaldo overtook Jimmy Greaves as the all-time top scorer in the top five European leagues, scoring twice against Celta de Vigo.
- By age 14, while struggling with his school duties and responsibilities in Escola EB2 de Telheiras, his school in the Telheiras area of Lisbon, Ronaldo believed he had the ability to play semi-professionally and agreed with his mother and his tutor at Sporting CP, Leonel Pontes, to cease his education to focus entirely on football.
- Over the course of the 2002–03 season, his representatives suggested the player to Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier and Barcelona president Joan Laporta.
- According to the BBC, Ronaldo’s transfer to Al-Nassr led a “revolution” in Asian football, with many players from other leagues, particularly those in Europe, transferring to Saudi Pro League clubs for the 2023–24 season.
- In the final on 26 May, Madrid defeated Liverpool 3–1, winning Ronaldo his fifth Champions League title, the first player to do so.
World Cup: Which teams will claim the final 6 places?16dESPN
With 10 goals, he finished as top scorer for a third consecutive season, alongside Messi and Neymar. Following the 2012–13 winter break, Ronaldo captained Madrid for the first time in an official match, scoring twice to lift 10-man Madrid to a 4–3 win over Sociedad on 6 January. In the 2012–13 season, he scored his first hat-trick in the Champions League in a 4–1 win over Ajax. Despite scoring 33 goals in all competitions and contributing to Real Madrid's 96 points in La Liga, his first season with Madrid ended trophyless. With his 2008 Ballon d'Or and 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year, Ronaldo became United's first Ballon d'Or winner since Best in 1968, and the first Premier League player to be named the FIFA World Player of the Year. United reached the final against Chelsea in Moscow on 21 May, where, despite his opening goal being negated by an equaliser and his penalty kick being saved in the shoot-out, United emerged victorious, winning 6–5 on penalties after a 1–1 draw at the end of 120 minutes.
On 2 March 2021, he scored a goal in a 3–0 win over Spezia in his 600th league match, to become the first player to score at least 20 goals in 12 consecutive seasons in the top five leagues of Europe. In the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals against Bayern in April, Ronaldo scored both goals in a 2–1 away win which saw him make history by becoming the first player to reach 100 goals in UEFA club competition. He has made over 1,300 professional career appearances, the most by an outfield player, and has scored over 950 official senior career goals for club and country, making him the top goalscorer of all time. Playing for Portugal on September 5, 2024, Ronaldo became the first men’s player to score 900 career goals across international and club play in a 2-1 UEFA Nations League win over Croatia. Portuguese soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest athletes in the sport’s history, winning the Ballon d’Or five times and becoming the first player to score 900 career goals. Ronaldo is the winner of five Ballon d’Or awards (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017), and in 2024 he became the first men’s player to score 900 career goals in official matches.
2009: Collective and individual success and Ballon d'Or
In the semifinal of the same tournament in June 2025, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory over Germany. In the 2019 UEFA Nations League semifinal against Switzerland, Ronaldo scored three goals to lead Portugal to a 3–1 victory and secure their place in the final, which Portugal won after defeating the Netherlands 1–0. In 2016 Ronaldo helped Portugal win the European Championship, the country’s first major international tournament title, although he only played sparingly in the final because of a knee injury that he had sustained early in the match. Ronaldo came into the 2014 World Cup hot off of his second world player of the year win, but his play at the tournament was spotty, and the entire Portugal team struggled during a group-stage elimination.
Then, in 2017, Ronaldo became a father to twins, born on 8 June 2017 in the United States via surrogacy. After her son achieved legendary status in world football, Cristiano Ronaldo's mother, Dolores Aveiro, became a popular personality in Portugal to such an extent that advertising campaigns for well-known brands in the country, such as Maggi, MultiOpticas and Pingo Doce, have featured her in commercials. A documentary film directed by Anthony Wonke about his life and career, titled Ronaldo, was released on 9 November 2015. In December 2011, he launched an iPhone game called Heads Up with Cristiano, created by developer RockLive, and in December 2013, he launched Viva Ronaldo, a dedicated social networking website and app. In June 2010, during the build-up to the World Cup, Ronaldo became the fourth footballer, after Steven Gerrard, Pelé, and David Beckham, to be represented as a waxwork at Madame Tussauds London.
Ronaldo served a mandatory one-game ban when Portugal played its final qualifying game last week — a 9-1 win over Armenia that sealed their place at the World Cup in North America. There are a few cases, and players who are sent off in their last competitive game before the finals will always miss at least one game. Croatia's Mario Mandzukic should have missed the opening two games of the 2014 finals after he was sent off for serious foul play in the second leg of the play-off win over Iceland. He is also the only player ever to score goals at five different World Cups.
The deal, worth more than $14 million U.S. dollars, was a record fee for a player of his age. He made such an impression that a number of United players asked their manager to try and sign the young player, which the team soon did. He was introduced to the game of soccer through his dad, who worked as an equipment manager at a boy’s club for a time. Considered a phenom as a teenager, 16-year-old Ronaldo signed with Manchester United in a record deal for a player of his age.