Cristiano Ronaldo: Early Life, Clubs, Family, Net Worth, Career & Stats

Cristiano Ronaldo is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both for Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr and the Portugal national team. He has also played for Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus. He became the world’s most expensive player when Real Madrid signed him for 94 million Euros in 2009 from Manchester United.

His sustained performance has enabled him to break numerous records for goal scoring and has been named FIFA Player of the Year (Ballon d’Or) five times. He has become an iconic figure in the sport, with an impressive record of 1,000 professional appearances and over 700 goals. Cristiano is the one who started the European journey of top league players to the Saudi Pro League, by signing a multi-year contract with Al-Nassr in late 2022. He is rightfully regarded as the greatest of all time.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

EARLY LIFE

Born in Sao Pedro, Funchal, a small Portuguese island in Madeira, Cristiano Ronaldo’s potential was spotted quite early in his career. Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, (born February 5, 1985) was only 15 when he was diagnosed with a heart condition that necessitated surgery, but he was sidelined only briefly and made a full recovery.

He first played for Clube Desportivo Nacional of Madeira and then transferred to Sporting Clube de Portugal (known as Sporting Lisbon), where he played for that club’s various youth teams before making his debut on Sporting’s first team in 2002. A tall player at 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 meters), Ronaldo was a formidable athlete on the pitch.

Originally a right-winger, he developed into a forward with a free-reined attacking style. He was able to mesmerize opponents with a sleight of foot that made sufficient space for openings in opposing defenses.

Also Read: Saudi Pro League : Al-Nassr – Club details, history, top players and future objectives

CLUB CAREER

Ronaldo played for local clubs like Andorinha and Nacional in his formative years, Ronaldo went for a three-day trial with Sporting CP in 1997 and the Portuguese outfit wasted no time in signing him for £1,500.

By the age of 18, Cristiano Ronaldo made his senior team debut for Sporting CP and was already a hot prospect in Europe. He was linked to the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal, but Ronaldo moved to Manchester United in 2003 for a reported £12.24 million fee. Cristiano Ronaldo spent six successful seasons with Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson and won three Premier League titles, two Football League Cups, one FA Cup, and one UEFA Champions League.

He was United’s top-scorer in the 2007-08 season and won the first of his five Ballon d’Or. Following his successes at United, his stock continued to rise in the football world. Consequently, Real Madrid signed Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009, spending a then world record £80 million for the Portuguese, making him the most expensive signing at the time.

Ronaldo took no time to settle in as he scored 33 goals in his debut season in La Liga. Nine seasons, four UEFA Champions League titles, four Ballon d’Ors, and two La Liga titles later, Ronaldo decided to embark on a new challenge. The forward scored a whopping 450 goals for Real Madrid and left the club as their all-time leading scorer. His latest adventure though would take him to Italy where Cristiano Ronaldo joined Juventus for a reported €100 million fee in 2018.

Despite being on the wrong side of 30, Ronaldo guided Juventus to two back-to-back Serie A titles. In 134 appearances for the Turin club, Ronaldo scored 101 goals. On 31st December 2023, According to transfer authority Fabrizio Romano, Ronaldo signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with Saudi Pro League Giants and is currently earning €200 million (A$315m) per season.

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

After moving through the youth and under-21 ranks, Ronaldo made his first appearance for Portugal’s full national team against Kazakhstan in August 2003 (four days after his debut for United). He was a key player in Portugal’s fourth-place finish at the 2006 World Cup and became the full-time captain of the national team in 2008.

In 2012 his stellar play led Portugal to the semifinals of the European Championship, where his team was eliminated by rival Spain in a match that was decided by a penalty kick shoot-out. 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.

In 2016 he 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 played brilliantly at the 2018 World Cup, scoring four goals in four games as Portugal advanced to the knockout round only to lose its first match of that stage to a strong defensive Uruguay side.

Four years later Ronaldo became the first male player to score at five different World Cups. However, he was not part of the starting lineup for several games, and Portugal’s 2022 World Cup ended with a loss in the quarterfinals.

RECORDS

• All-time leading scorer
• Most capped Portuguese player
• All-time top scorer for Portugal – 103
• Most international goals by a European player – 103
• Most appearances at European Championship tournament
• Most goals in European Championships history
• Most European Championship matches scored in
• Oldest scorer of a World Cup hat-trick
• All-time top scorer for Real Madrid – 450 goals
• All-time top scorer for Real Madrid in a single season – 61 goals
• Most hat-tricks in Real Madrid history – 44
• Fastest player to score 150 goals in La Liga – 140 games
• Fastest player to score 200 goals in La Liga – 178 games
• Fastest player to score 250 goals in La Liga – 228 games
• Fastest player to score 300 goals in La Liga – 286 games
• First player to score 50+ goals in the Premier League, La Liga & Serie A
• First player to reach 100 Champions League wins
• All-time Champions League top scorer – 134 goals
• Most Champions League assists of all time – 37
• First player to score 10+ Champions League goals for three different clubs
• First player to score 100 club goals in three different countries
• Most goals in a single Champions League season – 17
• Most seasons as Champions League top scorer – 7
• Only player to score in all six games of a Champions League group stage – 2017/18
• Fastest to 100 goals in Juventus history – 131 games
• Most goals in Champions League finals – 4
• Most consecutive seasons with 10+ goals in Europe’s top five leagues – 15 seasons
• Most appearances in UEFA Team of the Year – 15
• All-time top scorer for Juventus in a single season – 37 goals
• Fastest player to score 50 goals in Serie A – 61 appearances

AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

• Ronaldo is the only player to win the unique combination of the league title, domestic cup, domestic Supercup, Champions League, Club World Cup, League Player of the Year, Golden Shoe, and Ballon d’Or at two clubs (Manchester United and Real Madrid)
• Most goals scored in a single calendar year for club and country: 63 goals (2012)
• Most goals scored in the UEFA Champions League: 128 goals (2020)
• Winner of five FIFA Ballon d’Or awards (given to world’s best player)
• Only player to win national titles in England, Spain, and Italy.
• Five times winner of UEFA Champions League (4 with Real Madrid, 1 with Man Utd)
• Four times winner of FIFA Club World Cup.
• At the time (2009) The most expensive footballer in history was £80 million – Man Utd to Real Madrid
• First player to score in ten consecutive international tournaments (2004-19)
• Portugal’s most-capped player of all time: 164 caps
• Portugal’s all-time top goal scorer: 99 goals

PERSONAL LIFE

Ronaldo has five children. He first became a father to a son, who was born on 17 June 2010 in the United States. He has full custody of the child and has not publicly revealed the identity of the mother per an agreement with her. In January 2015, Ronaldo’s five-year relationship with Russian model Irina Shayk ended.

Ronaldo became a father to twins, born on 8 June 2017 in the United States via surrogacy. He is currently in a relationship with Argentine-born Spanish model Georgina Rodríguez, who gave birth to a daughter on 12 November 2017. The couple expected a pair of twins in 2022. The male twin died during childbirth while the female twin survived.

In January 2023, after Ronaldo moved to Saudi Arabia with his family having been signed by Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr, the rulers of the Muslim-leaning Kingdom made Ronaldo an exception to the rule that unmarried couples are not allowed to live together in Saudi Arabia.

NET WORTH

As of 2023 Cristiano Ronaldo is estimated to have a net worth of around $500 million (£363m) and is one of the highest-paid entertainers on the planet.

FAMILY

Ronaldo is the youngest child of Maria Dolores Aveiro and Jose Dinis Aveiro and has three siblings – one brother called Hugo and his two sisters Elma and Katia. Ronaldo’s father, José, died of an alcoholism-related liver condition at age 52 in September 2005 when Ronaldo was 20. His father, who had been a soldier and later a kit man at their local club, battled alcoholism for much of Ronaldo’s life. Ronaldo is now leading a happy life with his 5 children, Cris Jr., Eva, Mateo, Alana, and Bella along with Spanish model and Actor girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez.

PARTNER

Cristiano Ronaldo is well-settled with his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez. He met Georgina in 2016 at a Gucci store in Madrid. The duo has been living together for quite a while now and their bond seems to be growing more as years pass by. The duo have been together for almost 6 years now and have two children (daughters Alana and Bella Esmeralda) Georgina is also a mother figure to the rest of his three children and cares for them very much. She is an inspiration for Ronaldo.

HOUSES

The La Finca Manor – in Madrid:

This single-story fantasy home has 8,600 square feet, seven bedrooms, and eight bathrooms. This home is nothing short of a castle and features a gorgeous trophy room where Ronaldo’s amazing career accomplishments may be admired, as well as a large children’s bedroom. The apartment has a sleek modern aesthetic and once housed the former Real Madrid striker for nine whole seasons.

Marbella, Spain – A Luxurious Palace:

In 2019, the former Juventus striker won his first trophy with the team, and he purchased another magnificent home to add to his portfolio of real estate holdings. He spent 1.25 million dollars on a vacation property at Marbella Country Club.

The Madeira Mansion:

Cristiano spent almost 7 million dollars renovating a warehouse into a seven-story mansion in Funchal, Madeira, that features two Olympic-sized swimming pools, a jacuzzi, and a football field. There is also a garage for GOAT’s expensive cars.

The New York Condo:

Ronaldo paid a staggering 18.5 million dollars for a lavish condo in New York’s 58-story Trump Tower building located on Fifth Avenue in 2015. It previously belonged to Donald Trump’s business partner Alessandro Proto.

The Lisbon Penthouse:

The Avenida de Liberdade holds special meaning for the football’s greatest. This is why he decided to buy an apartment in the heart of Lisbon, namely in Eduardo VII Park. It’s been said that this penthouse is the most expensive property ever sold on the open market. The estimated cost of the house is 7 million euros.

The Torino Castle:

Right after Ronaldo joined the Italian football powerhouse Juventus in 2019, he built another jaw-dropping property to add to his portfolio. Made up of two separate villas, luscious greenery, and beautiful views of the city surrounding the property

Retirement House:

Last but not least is his newly-built riverfront mansion in the Peneda-Gerês National Park. Reportedly spending around 7 million pounds, Cristiano Ronaldo has bought this large piece of land in Portugal.