Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɾiʃˈtjɐnu ʁɔˈnaldu] ⓘ;

born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as

a forward for and captains both Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr and the Portugal
national team. Nicknamed CR7, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in
history, and has won numerous individual accolades throughout his professional
footballing career, including five Ballon d'Or awards, a record three UEFA Men's Player
of the Year Awards, four European Golden Shoes, and was named five times
the world's best player by FIFA.[note 3] He has won 34 trophies in his career and holds
numerous records, including most goals (140) in the UEFA Champions League,
most goals (14) in the UEFA European Championship, and most international
goals (138). He has made over 1,200 professional career appearances, the most by
an outfield player, and has scored over 900 official senior career goals for club and
country, making him the top goalscorer of all time.
Ronaldo began his career with Sporting CP before signing with Manchester United in
2003. He became a star player at United, where he won three consecutive Premier
League titles, the Champions League, and the FIFA Club World Cup. His 2007–
08 season earned him his first Ballon d’Or at age 23. In 2009, Ronaldo became the
subject of the then-most expensive transfer in history when he joined Real Madrid in a
deal worth €94 million (£80 million). 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. He also won two La
Liga titles, including the record-breaking 2011–12 season in which Madrid reached 100
points. He won Ballon d’Ors in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017 and became the club's all-
time top goalscorer. Following issues with the club hierarchy, Ronaldo signed
for Juventus in 2018, where he was pivotal in winning two Serie A titles. In 2021, he
returned to United before joining Al-Nassr in 2023.

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.[7] He has
played in eleven major tournaments. He scored his first international goal in Euro 2004,
where he helped Portugal reach the final and subsequently made the team of the
tournament. He assumed captaincy of the national team ahead of Euro 2008; and
at Euro 2012, he was named in the team of the tournament. Ronaldo led Portugal to
their first major tournament title at Euro 2016, being named in the team of the
tournament for the third time. In the 2018 World Cup, he had his most prolific World Cup
campaign with four goals. He received the Golden Boot as the top scorer of Euro
2020 before playing in his fifth World Cup at the 2022 World Cup. He has won
two UEFA Nations Leagues, in 2019 and 2025.

Ronaldo was named in 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. In recognition of his record-
breaking goalscoring success, he received special awards for Outstanding Career
Achievement by FIFA in 2021 and Champions League All-Time Top Scorer by UEFA in
2024. One of the world's most marketable and famous athletes, Ronaldo was ranked
the world's highest-paid athlete by Forbes on five occasions, and the world's most
famous athlete by ESPN from 2016 to 2019. Time included him on their list of the 100
most influential people in the world in 2014.

Early life
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born on 5 February 1985 in the São
Pedro parish of Funchal, the capital of the Portuguese island of Madeira, and grew up in
the nearby parish of Santo António.[8][9] He is the fourth and youngest child of Maria
Dolores dos Santos Viveiros Aveiro, who worked as a cook in the hospitality
industry and a cleaning woman,[10][11] and José Dinis Aveiro, a municipal gardener at
the Junta de Freguesia of Santo António and part-time kit man for football
club Andorinha.[12][13][14] His great-grandmother on his father's side, Isabel da Piedade, an
African woman, was born in the island of São Vicente, in what was then Portuguese
Cape Verde, and moved to Madeira Island at 16.[15][16] He has one older brother, Hugo,
and two older sisters, Elma and Liliana Cátia "Kátia".[2] He was named after actor and
U.S. President Ronald Reagan, whom his father was a fan of.[17] His mother revealed
that she wanted to abort him due to poverty, his father's alcoholism, and having too
many children already, but her doctor refused to perform the procedure.[18][19] Ronaldo
grew up in an impoverished Catholic home, sharing a room with all his siblings.[20]

As a child, Ronaldo played for Andorinha from 1992 to 1995,[21] where his father was the
kit man,[12] and later spent two years with Nacional. In 1997, aged 12, he went on a
three-day trial with Sporting CP, who signed him for a fee of £1,500.[22] He subsequently
moved from Madeira to Lisbon to join Sporting CP's youth system.[22] 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,
[23]
to cease his education to focus entirely on football.[24][25] With a troubled life as a
student,[26] and although living in Lisbon area away from his Madeiran family,[27][28] he did
not complete schooling beyond the 6th grade.[29][30] While popular with other students at
school, he had been expelled after throwing a chair at his teacher, who he said had
"disrespected" him.[24] One year later, he was diagnosed with tachycardia, a condition
that could have forced him to give up playing football.[31] Ronaldo underwent heart
surgery where a laser was used to cauterise multiple cardiac pathways into one, altering
his resting heart rate.[32] He was discharged from the hospital hours after the procedure
and resumed training a few days later.[33] In 2021, Cristiano Ronaldo's mother, Dolores
Aveiro, stated in an interview for Sporting CP's official television channel (Sporting TV)
that her son would be a bricklayer if he had not become a professional football player.[34]

Growing up, Ronaldo idolised the Brazilian footballers Ronaldinho and Ronaldo
Nazário, and has described them as leaving "a beautiful history in football".[35]

Club career
Main article: Career of Cristiano Ronaldo § Club career
Sporting CP
After impressing in Sporting's youth teams, he was promoted to the main team by first-
team manager László Bölöni. At age 17, on 14 August 2002, he played his first official
match for the first team, in a UEFA Champions League qualifying round at José
Alvalade Stadium against Inter Milan,[36] and his Primeira Liga debut, took place a month
later against Braga, and on 7 October, he scored two goals against Moreirense in their
3–0 win.[37] Over the course of the 2002–03 season, his representatives suggested the
player to Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier and Barcelona president Joan Laporta.
[38]
Manager Arsène Wenger, who was interested in signing Ronaldo, met with him
at Arsenal's stadium in November to discuss a possible transfer.[39]

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was determined to acquire Ronaldo on a

permanent move urgently, after Sporting defeated United 3–1 at the inauguration of
the Estádio José Alvalade on 6 August 2003. Initially, United had planned to sign
Ronaldo and loan him back to Sporting for a year.[40] Having been impressed by him, the
United players urged Ferguson to sign him. After the game, Ferguson said Ronaldo was
"one of the most exciting young players" he had ever seen.[40][41]