A trademark free-kick and a close-range finish, both in the final half-hour of Thursday’s game, sealed the win Al-Nassr needed on the last night of the season, with Al Hilal finish
The report indicates that cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Al-Nassr clinched the Saudi Pro League title with a 4-1 win over Damac, ending his long wait for domestic silverware.
It further notes that a trademark free-kick and a close-range finish, both in the final half-hour of Thursday’s game, sealed the win Al-Nassr needed on the last night of the season, with Al Hilal finishing just two points behind.
Ronaldo, 41, who was without a major club trophy since winning Serie A with Juventus in 2020, arrived in the oil-rich desert kingdom to great acclaim in 2023, wept as he watched the final minutes from the bench.
He adds the Saudi championship to his English, Spanish and Italian titles and five Champions League medals.
Al-Nassr took a 2-0 lead but were back to 2-1 before Ronaldo’s free-kick on 63 minutes evaded the goalkeeper and a forest of legs to find the far corner.
He struck again nine minutes from time, receiving a cut-back on the edge of the six-yard box and smashing high into the net.
Next up for the all-time leading men’s international goalscorer, with 143 goals, is a sixth crack at the World Cup after he was named in Portugal’s squad this week.
Ronaldo opened the door to a series of big-money Saudi signings when he joined Al-Nassr in January 2023, following an unhappy second spell at Manchester United.
Neymar and Karim Benzema were among those to follow after Ronaldo signed a two-and-a-half-year deal estimated at $232m, extended for two years in June 2025.
The stated aim was to turn the Pro League into one of the world’s top five football competitions measured by the quality of players, stadium attendances and commercial success. International interest has been muted, however.
In December 2024, Saudi Arabia was confirmed as host of the 2034 World Cup, a coup as it pushes to decouple its economy from oil and attract business and tourists, partly via the buzz of sport.
With a record 664 million Instagram followers, Ronaldo has been a highly visible ambassador as Saudi Arabia tries to turn the page on the ultra-conservative image that has defined it for decades.
The world’s biggest oil exporter and home of Islam has been accused of “sportswashing” – using sport to deflect human rights criticism – as it has invested in Formula 1, golf, boxing and tennis alongside football.
Some of the more outlandish spending on economic diversification, including sprawling tourist developments and NEOM, a futuristic city in the desert, is being reined in.
