Renowned Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a number of awards and other accolades on and off the field – including even having an airport named after him. Keep reading to learn a brief biography of this internationally famous football star, his playing history, and much more.

Childhood in Portugal

On February 5, 1985, Ronaldo was born in Funchal, which is the capital city, municipality and largest city of Madeira, a Portuguese autonomous region. He was born in the parish of São Pedro but raised in the Santo António parish and spent some of his childhood growing up in the area.

He comes from a fairly large family, as is the youngest child of four by Maria Dolores dos Santos Viveiros Aveiro. To make money for her family, the mother works as a cleaner and cook. Ronaldo’s father is José Dinis Aveiro, a gardener who was also involved in football as a part-time equipment manager for the football club Clube de Futebol Andorinha de Santo António.

Ronaldo’s last name is based on Ronald Reagan, the late former president of the United States who was an actor before taking on that role, because Ronaldo’s father liked Reagan.

Although he spent part of his time in the Santo António parish, he went to Lisbon for school and it’s reported that he struggled there, dropping out at the sixth grade.

He also experienced some health problems early in his life, and when young was found to have an elevated resting heart rate, which is known as tachycardia or tachyarrhythmia. Despite having this condition, Ronaldo has proven to be an incredibly agile, fast and talented football player who has shown plenty of stamina on the field whether playing in his youth or now in his thirties.

Developing an interest in soccer

Although Ronaldo was a troubled student at school, from an early age he showed a natural talent at playing football. From 1992 through to 1995 he had played some youth games for the club Andorinha where his father worked, and his coaches clearly saw that he had potential.

In 1997, the Sporting Clube de Portugal signed Ronaldo, then only 12 years old, following a short trial. Just two years later, he made the decision – with the support of his mother – to cease studying in school and instead concentrate on making a career out of his football talent. His father has said in interviews that the backup plan if it did not work was for Ronaldo to become a construction worker.

History of Ronaldo’s club roles

Becoming a professional football player a few years later, Ronaldo has gone on to play for a number of clubs both in Portugal, Italy and the United Kingdom. As well as playing for specific teams within countries, he has also played for Portugal’s national team in international contest against other countries. Below is a brief summary of everywhere he has played.

Sporting Clube de Portugal (2002 to 2003)

This is the same club where Ronaldo had the youth trial and was signed at the age of 12. He stayed with the club as a youth player and then became an official member of the professional adult team at the age of 17. He quickly impressed coaches and fans alike with his skills that included challenging defenders, his strong dribbling ability and fast pace and stamina on the field.

His career truly took off when the football club played a friendly match against the United Kingdom football club Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson, who was the then the manager on Manchester United, spotted Ronaldo and in short time made an offer for him to join the club.

Manchester United Football Club (2003 to 2009)

The huge international popularity of Manchester United meant that Ronaldo soon become well-known by nationally throughout the UK and also globally as the team’s first player from Portugal.

He was given the shirt with team number 7 that was the same as given to notable Manchester United players including David Beckham and George Best. At this club, Ronaldo refined his football playing and in just three years after arriving he had become a highly skilled and essential team member.

During his time at this club, Manchester United won three Premier League titles in a row, along with two League Cups, one FA Cup and the 2008 UEFA Champions League. That latter victory came in the same year that Ronaldo’s goal total was 42, which in turn won him various awards like the Ballon d’Or.

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (2009–2018)

In 2009, the Spanish football club Real Madrid paid what was then a record amount of €94 million to have Ronaldo transfer from Manchester United and play for this team instead.

From the start, he proved to be an excellent team member and broke a number of records, eventually staying with the club for nine years and scoring 450 goals across 438 appearances. This staggering success also meant that he played a vital role in helping Real Madrid win major titles including four UEFA Champions League titles, along with winning various other competitions.

Juventus Football Club (2018–2021)

Despite being with Real Madrid for almost a decade, in 2018 Ronaldo surprised many people by switching to play for the Italian football club Juventus for a new record price of €100 million.

He continued to show off tremendous skill on the field, helping Juventus to improve its overall standing. He’s the fastest team member to have reached a total of 100 goals, and proved his worth as the club’s top-scoring player during his roughly three years in Italy.

The club did not win the UEFA Champions League during Ronaldo’s time there – unlike when he was at Real Madrid – but he had a clear and beneficial effect on Juventus’ game success rate. Yet in 2021 he decided to leave the club and return to Manchester United where he had played years ago.

Manchester United Football Club (2021–2022)

Ronaldo came back to Manchester United in 2021, and he was initially welcome back by the football media and also the club’s fans. By now over 30 years old, which is considered older for a football player, he nevertheless managed to score a total of 24 goals in his first season back at the club.

But his second season at the club was not as successful and he started to be soon as not being as skilled as in the past. He also had some tension with Erik ten Hag, who had taken over as the current manager of the club, and in 2022 the two agreed that Ronaldo would leave the club again.

Al-Nassr Football Club (2023–Present)

Following Rolando’s departure from Manchester United for a second time, he then signed a contract in late 2022 to join the Al-Nassr club, which is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

He soon proved his worth to the club by scoring many goals and playing an important part in Al-Nassr winning the Arab Club Champions Cup competition. The fact that Ronaldo, as a globally famous and popular player, joined the club also helped to increase attention to football in Saudi Arabia.

Ronaldo continues to play for Al-Nassr and remains an important member of the team, while also continuing to break various records – for example scoring over 900 goals throughout his career.

Key facts about Ronaldo

• Name: Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro
• Born: In Funchal, Madeira, on February 5, 1985
• Height: 6 feet 2 inches (or 1.87 meters)
• International debut: 2003
• Goals (as of 2025): Over 130 international and more than 900 in his career
• Clubs played for include: Al-Nassr, Juventus, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Sporting CP
• Top honors: Ballon d’Or, Champions League, Euro 2016, Nations League 2019 and 2025

Awards and other accolades

Throughout his playing career, no matter which country or team he has been playing for, Ronaldo has won a number of awards and other accolades throughout his career, whether from his teams or other organizations, for example FIFA has given him several best player nods.

He also has the relatively rare honor of having an airport named after him – Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport. This airport is located near to Funchal and was previously known as Santa Catarina Airport or simply referred to as either Funchal Airport or Madeira Airport.

It was announced in 2016 that the airport would be getting renamed after Ronaldo, which happened on the same day that he was in Funchal to unveil a new hotel. He teamed up with the Pestana Hotel Group, which owns hotels in New York, Lisbon and Madrid, to open the hotel in Funchal.

He was just 31 years old at the time, and the airport renaming decision was announced by Madeira President Miguel Albuquerque. The choice was explained as a tribute to the locally born Ronaldo and Portugal’s victory in the UEFA Euro 2016 competition. In the final, Portugal’s national team, for which Ronaldo was playing, defeated the host country France by 1-0 to win the trophy.