RSL title in bag, can Ronaldo now land game's greatest prize? | OneFootball

Cristiano Ronaldo is just a month away from, to borrow a gaming term, completing football.

The ageless 41-year-old has arrived in North America for a remarkable sixth appearance at a FIFA World Cup. Most players dream of competing in one global finals, but to reach multiple? That’s longevity right there.

However, to make six? Given no one had featured in more than five before a ball was kicked at the 2026 edition this month, that’s rarified air alright.

Saying that, that’s the space Ronaldo, fresh off winning the Roshn Saudi League with Al Nassr, has occupied for the best part of his two-decade-long and illustrious career.

Cristiano Ronaldo lifts the RSL trophy with his ecstatic Al Nassr teammates

In a professional life spanning back to 2002, the Portuguese superstar has won almost it all; now, after top-flight success this season with Al Nassr, Ronaldo can justifiably claim that, wherever he’s gone in club football, the trophies have followed.

The English Premier League with Manchester United? Won it three times. Spain's La Liga with Real Madrid? Twice. The Italian Serie A with Juventus? Yep, there’s two of them, as well.

What about the premier prize in the European club game, the UEFA Champions League? Well, there’s five of those. There’s also four FIFA Club World Cups, not to mention more than a dozen cup competitions across England, Spain and Italy.

Individually, there’s five Ballon d’Ors, too, and at international level, Ronaldo has helped guide his beloved Portugal to the 2016 UEFA European Championship crown, as well as two UEFA Nations League titles. The most recent of which was secured last year.

All said, there’s barely a trophy for which he has competed that he hasn’t won. Except one. And it’s the ultimate; the one that would perhaps mean more than every other trophy combined: the FIFA World Cup.

The closest Ronaldo has come was in fact at his first World Cup appearance in 2006, when Portugal made the semi-finals in Germany only to fall short to France. Since then, a quarter-final appearance last time out in Qatar is as far as A Seleção have gone in the tournament.

Despite being one of the oldest players at the tournament, Ronaldo remains a central pillar in this Portuguese side under the tutelage of Roberto Martinez.

Even in a squad brimming with talent - it includes Al Nassr teammate Joao Felix and Al Hilal duo Ruben Neves and Joao Cancelo - how could he not be integral to his national team considering, not only his incredible career thus far, but his 2025-26 campaign for Al Nassr.

A return of 28 goals represented Ronaldo’s second best in his three-and-a-half seasons in the Kingdom, eclipsing his 25-goal, golden-boot-retaining campaign in 2024-25. It offered yet more evidence that the world’s most famous No.7 hasn’t diminished as mere mortals would.

When the RSL title was on the line on the final day, when Al Nassr had the weight of expectation on their shoulders and seven years of disappointment to assuage, it was Ronaldo who stood tall. At an expectant Al Awwal Park, he bagged a brace to bring the top-flight trophy back to Al Nassr.

Speaking to The Athletic before the latest World Cup, Portugal manager Martinez described Ronaldo as: "A unique footballer that has changed the game.

"His commitment to the game is still an example for many young players. Twenty-one years of service to the national team, 227 games for the national team. No other player has done that. The number of goals [143, a record in men's international football]. All those figures make Cristiano Ronaldo iconic.

“His attitude is as fresh as an 18-year-old that’s playing for the national team for the first time.”

Now, for the first time since his first time, Portugal might be best placed to finally deliver their greatest-ever player the World Cup glory he so craves.

Alongside him in the Portugal side is that trio of RSL star power - Al Nassr colleague Joao Felix is the reigning SPL Player of the Season - and, when combined with the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Joao Neves, Vitinha and Ruben Dias, there’s a reason why Portugal are ranked among the favourites in North America.

They begin that quest on Wednesday night, in the Group K opener against DR Congo.

For sure, taking the trophy would be a perfectly fitting way for Ronaldo to close out his contribution to his country - and the international game.

Coming so soon after his finest Al Nassr triumph, a campaign in which he clocked up his 100th RSL goal and supplied the 2025-26 competition's Goal of the Season, the GOAT appears primed to propel Portugal to football's most coveted crown.