After Seven Years, Cristiano Ronaldo Ends His Thirst for a League Title

RIYADH, FRIDAY — Cristiano Ronaldo's tears flowed after hearing the final whistle blown by referee Khaled Al Teris in the match between Al-Nassr and Damac. The final match of the 2025-2026 Saudi Arabian League season confirmed Al-Nassr as champions, ending Ronaldo's wait for a league title since winning the Scudetto with Juventus in 2019-2020.

It is understandable that Ronaldo was very emotional during the match that took place on Friday (22/5/2026) in the early hours of WIB, at Al-Awwal Park Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Since joining Al-Nassr in the second half of the 2022-2023 season, failure has consistently overshadowed Ronaldo's efforts to deliver the first major trophy to the team nicknamed "Faris Najd."

Together with Ronaldo, Al-Nassr concluded the Saudi League by finishing in second place in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons. In the 2024-2025 competition campaign, they even found themselves in third place, 13 points behind the champions, Al-Ittihad.

Furthermore, Al-Nassr also failed to secure the AFC Champions League trophy after losing 0-1 to Gamba Osaka last weekend. The first trophy lifted by Ronaldo while wearing the Al-Nassr jersey was the regional tournament titled Arab Club Champions Cup 2023.

The poor results in the Asian Champions League seem to place significant pressure on Al-Nassr. Although they started the 34th week match with a two-point lead over Al-Hilal, the specter of failure casts doubt on Ronaldo and his teammates.

The pressure evaporated when Sadio Mane opened the scoring for Al-Nassr in the 34th minute. Mane continued the corner kick from Joao Felix to give his team the lead.

This means a lot to us. Yalla, Nassr.

At the beginning of the second half, Kingsley Coman doubled his team's advantage in the 52nd minute. Through a counterattack, Damac reduced the deficit with a goal from Morlaye Sylla in the 58th minute.

As tensions resurfaced, Ronaldo emerged as the clincher for Al-Nassr's 11th Saudi League title, or their first since 2019. Ronaldo scored the 972nd goal of his career with a free kick from the left side of the Damac goal. This iconic goal was reminiscent of those he scored with Manchester United in 2009 and Real Madrid in 2012.

Ronaldo secured three points for Al-Nassr with a shot in front of the opponent's goal in the 81st minute. Al-Nassr won 4-1, thereby clinching the league title in their dominant season. Throughout 34 weeks, Al-Nassr was at the top of the standings for 27 weeks.

"This means a lot to us. Yalla, Nassr," Ronaldo said during the title celebrations in front of Al-Nassr supporters.

Ronaldo has assisted Al-Nassr with a contribution of 30 goals from 30 matches in the Saudi League. Specifically, he has provided 28 goals and two assists. In his professional career, the 41-year-old player concluded this season with a record of 973 goals. He is only 27 goals short of reaching the milestone of 1,000 goals.

The league title with Al-Nassr is the eighth league trophy for Ronaldo. Previously, he contributed three Premier League titles for Manchester United, followed by two league titles each for Real Madrid and Juventus.

For Al-Nassr, the league title for the 2025-2026 season is their 11th collection since its establishment in 1955. The Riyadh-based team is the third most successful team in Saudi Arabia after Al-Hilal (21 trophies) and Al-Ittihad (14 trophies).

Unlike Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad, which took turns winning the Saudi League titles from 2019 to 2025, Al-Nassr had to wait seven seasons to become the king of Saudi football since 2018-2019.

The Executive Director of Al-Nassr, Jose Semedo, stated that this season's league title was achieved through a significant collective effort from all team elements. According to him, Al-Nassr was not favored from the beginning to conclude the season as league champions.

"In the Saudi League, there are more dominant teams, like Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad, and there's also the reigning Asian Champions League champions (Al-Ahli). We're the least favored team. But since the start of the season, we've never doubted we could win," Semedo told Saudi media outlet Thmanyah.

Joao Felix, the striker for Al-Nassr, agrees with Semedo. According to Felix, winning the Saudi League is very difficult due to the competition and the equal quality of teams since the beginning of the season.

"Al-Nassr is also not seen as a very strong team compared to other (giant) teams in Saudi. We strive every day to achieve this title. We are doing fantastic work that will make this title always remembered," said Felix, who joined this season after a series of disappointing seasons with Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, and Chelsea.

This season's Saudi League was won by Al-Nassr with a two-point advantage over their closest competitor, Al-Hilal. In the history of the Saudi League rivalry, the 2025-2026 edition marks the seventh opportunity for Al-Nassr to triumph over Al-Hilal in the competition for the league championship.

Interestingly, Al-Nassr was able to secure the championship title despite suffering four defeats. Among the other teams in the top four, namely Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli, and Al-Qadsiah, this represents the highest number of losses.

Al-Hilal, for example, finished the season unbeaten under Simeone Inzaghi. Al-Ahli and Al-Qadsiah only suffered three negative results.

Nevertheless, Al-Nassr asserts its champion status as the most productive team. They scored 91 goals. Four key players shared the role of contributing goals, each achieving double-digit tallies.

Ronaldo scored 28 goals, followed by Felix with 20 goals. Sadio Mane and Kingsley Coman contributed with a collection of 10 goals.

Mane is a "lucky charm" for Al-Nassr. When Mane plays in 25 matches, Al-Nassr has not suffered a single defeat. Mane has helped Faris Najd secure 25 victories and one draw.

Four defeats experienced by Al-Nassr occurred during the period of January-February 2026 when Mane was representing the Senegal national team in the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations.

"The results are commendable; we were able to win (the league). We are very happy because we have finally achieved something significant for this club," said Mane.

Amid the celebration of the Al-Nassr league championship, bad news arrived. Al-Nassr coach Jorge Jesus decided to step down from his position as the team's tactician.

"I came here to help Cristiano (Ronaldo) and the club win the league. We did an outstanding job together. Now it is time for me to leave," said Jesus, who won his second Saudi League title with Al-Hilal in 2023-2024. (REUTERS)