Can Cristiano Ronaldo Finally Win the Saudi Pro League With Supercharged Al-Nassr?

Cristiano Ronaldo has won league titles in England, Spain and Italy, but not yet in Saudi Arabia.

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United superstar joined Al-Nassr midway through the 2022/23 season. Al-Nassr were top of the table at that point but — despite Ronaldo scoring 14 goals in his first 16 league games — they ended up five points behind champions Al-Ittihad.

In his first full campaign, Ronaldo claimed the Golden Boot with 35 goals in 31 games, but Al-Nassr still finished second, 14 points behind unbeaten champions Al-Hilal. Another Golden Boot followed in 2024/25, yet the club slid to third.

Cristiano Ronaldo still waiting for first Saudi Pro League title

Ronaldo has been largely credited with leading a footballing revolution in Saudi Arabia. His move from Europe to the Gulf state has since been followed by countless global stars.

As well as massively raising the profile of the Saudi Pro League, Ronaldo has unquestionably helped to make Al-Nassr a better team.

But, inspired by him, all of Al-Nassr’s rivals have also improved drastically. Roberto Firmino, Karim Benzema, Riyad Mahrez, Allan Saint-Maximin, Edouard Mendy, Georginio Wijnaldum, Ruben Neves, N’Golo Kante and Fabinho all moved to Al-Nassr’s rivals in the summer of 2023 and many more superstars have since followed.

Al-Nassr signed Sadio Mane, Alex Telles, Aymeric Laporte and Marcelo Brozovic in 2023, but that was not enough.

They spent more than $100 million on another cohort last year, before shelling out a further $80m on Jhon Duran in January. That did not get them over the line either and Duran has since departed on loan.

Laporte and Telles have both now left too, while Robert Lewandowski snubbed a summer move to Riyadh, but Al-Nassr made three more major signings from Europe that have supercharged the squad this summer — including two in their prime years.

Joao Felix arrived from Chelsea at the age of 25 and Kingsley Coman, 29, signed from Bayern Munich, while 34-year-old centre-back Inigo Martinez joined on a free transfer from Barcelona to add experience and steel at the back.

Their impact has been instant. Felix marked his Pro League debut by scoring a hat-trick in a 5-0 away win at Al-Taawoun. Ronaldo and Coman also netted in that game, while Martinez helped deliver a clean sheet.

Martinez then joined Mane on the scoresheet in the next game, a 2-0 victory over Al-Kholood, before Felix, Coman and Ronaldo all added to their goal tallies in a 5-1 thrashing of Al-Riyadh.

That result left Al-Nassr top of the table with three of 34 rounds of fixtures complete.

“We want more”

Ronaldo himself has made no secret of his ambitions. Posting after the win over Al-Riyadh, in which he scored twice to take his career tally to 945 goals, he declared on Instagram: “3 wins in 3 games. We want more!”

Felix, currently the Pro League’s leading scorer with five goals, went further. Speaking after being named Player of the Match, the Portugal forward said: “My teammates make the things look easier.

“As a team we are amazing, and then individually we have a lot of good players. If we keep doing well as individuals, the team will go well as well. And if we are all together, we’re going to win game after game, and we will be closer to the title.”

Ronaldo publicly defended his younger compatriot after critics questioned Felix’s decision to leave European football. In typically blunt fashion, Ronaldo replied to one sceptical podcast clip: “Idiots don’t understand anything about football, yet they still give their opinions.”

Managing Ronaldo

At 40, Ronaldo’s fitness remains extraordinary but Jorge Jesus has already shown he is willing to rotate his talisman.

The Portuguese striker played 90 minutes in the win over Al-Riyadh but was rested for the AFC Champions League Two opener against Istiklol and again left out of the starting XI in this week’s King Cup of Champions clash with Jeddah.

Jesus has made clear that the Saudi Pro League is the club’s number one target this season. Ronaldo’s workload will therefore be carefully managed to maximise his impact in domestic games.

Next up for Ronaldo and Al-Nassr

Although we are still in September, Al-Nassr’s next fixture could well be crucial in this season’s title race. On Friday they face Al-Ittihad, the team that denied Ronaldo the trophy in his debut campaign, before winning the title again last season.

The reigning champions sit just behind Al-Nassr on goal difference after also claiming nine points from nine. Goals from Benzema and former Tottenham star Steven Bergwijn inspired a 5-2 victory at Al Akhdoud and a 4-2 triumph over Al Fateh, before N’Golo Kante struck a 96th-minute winner to beat Al-Najma SC on Saturday.

Al-Nassr look more settled than their rivals, but the bookmakers still place both sides narrowly behind Al-Hilal in the title betting. A convincing win for Ronaldo and Co on Friday would not only strengthen their early lead at the top but also swing the momentum — and perhaps the odds — firmly in their favour.

For Ronaldo, the stakes are clear. He has nothing left to prove as an individual — the goals keep coming, the Golden Boots keep stacking up — but a Saudi Pro League crown would add the final domestic honour to a record-breaking career already defined by winning.

After a brilliant start to the new season with a freshened-up squad, hope is high that 2026 will finally be the year Ronaldo leads his yellow-shirted supporting cast to team glory.