At the third time of asking, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr have won the Saudi Pro League, thanks to a final day 4-1 win over Damac as CR7 scored a brace in another superb display.
He’s done it all has Ronaldo, but at 41 years of age the superstar has won again, in a totally different environment. While his old side Real Madrid, where Ronaldo was at his very best, have been subjected to the miserable experience of watching El Clasico rivals Barcelona win back-to-back La Liga titles, the Portuguese star has been scoring for fun, now amassing 102 goals in 107 games for the Saudi giants.
He hit a trademark free-kick on a dramatic night at the Al-Awwal Park, while former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane headed a goal of his own, and Champions League winner Kingsley Coman was also on the scoresheet. But it is Ronaldo who is still box office and writes the Saudi Pro League 2026 news headlines, scoring his second half double to make it 973 career goals…what price he cracks on at the World Cup and again next season to make the magical four figures?
He’s a five times Champions League winner and five times Ballon D’Or winner, as well as being a European Champion with Portugal in 2016, and now this is his eighth domestic league title. Ronaldo is a serial winner with an insatiable appetite for silverware, and the crowds will always flock to see him play.
The Saudi Pro League 2026 betting odds will back Ronaldo’s team as the favourites to flip back-to-back titles and there is no sign of the great man hanging up his boots just yet, and, here at SBOTOP we’re looking forward to him strutting his stuff at the World Cup in less than three weeks’ time, along with his nemesis, Argentina’s Lionel Messi. An era in world football is nearing its end, not quite yet but it is certainly in its twilight and, in Canada, Mexico and the USA we may well see two of the best of all time for the last time at a World Cup. And CR7 is back on the winning trail.
Tuchel calls up Toney
Ronaldo will be at the 2026 World Cup with Portugal and another former Premier League star will be there too, but the inclusion of Al Ahli star Ivan Toney is something of a surprise. England manager Thomas Tuchel has said he has picked the best squad he can to ensure team cohesion, in-form players and a group which are serious contenders to end the Three Lions sixty years of hurt. Creative midfielders Cole Palmer and Phil Foden are surprise omissions but, in truth, neither have been at their best this season, while Harry Maguire caused widespread amusement at his social media outburst on his omission.
That Toney is playing in the Saudi Pro League made his inclusion less likely for a start, but with 31 goals in 30 league games for Al Ahli he has proved his is still a lethal marksman as he did as a Brentford striker, where he scored 67 goals in 126 game before moving to Saudi where he has plundered 55 goals in 62 games.
His return to the England fold is a stunning comeback for Toney after he was banned from the game for eight months in 2023 when he breached football association betting rules. Now 30, he made his name with Peterborough United where he was League One top scorer in 2020 which earned him a move to Brentford where he picked up his seven England caps after getting his first squad call-up in 2022.
He has always been a prolific goal getter and has bagged 49 in all competitions this season, a statistic the meticulous Tuchel was hardly likely to ignore. And though England have the record breaking Harry Kane set to lead their line, should anything happen to the Bayern Munich hitman then Toney is as near a like for like replacement England has, alongside Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins.
“He deserves to be with us,” said Tuchel, “and I am convinced because he scored over 20 goals for his team this season. He won a major title with the Asian Champions League; he made a big contribution with goals and assists.”
The Saudi Pro League has grown from strength to strength in terms of recruitment over the past couple of years, and the likes of Ronaldo, Toney, and Mane, who will be at the World Cup with Senegal, are all set to grace our screens in June, while the Saudi Arabia team will showcase the cream of the domestic crop in the Pro League.
Can Toney make his mark? He may well get his chance.
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