SPL 26/27: All eyes on Ronaldo as Al-Nassr gears up to take on Al-Riyadh
All eyes are on Al-Nassr Skipper Cristiano Ronaldo as the defending champion gears up to take on Al-Riyadh football club Friday August 21, 2026 in the second match of the Saudi Pro League 2026-27
[Cristiano Ronaldo seen with teammate Joao Felix during training and practice sessions at Al Nassr House Thursday August 20, 2026.]
Saudi Pro League 26/7: All eyes are on Al-Nassr Skipper Cristiano Ronaldo as the defending champion gears up to take on Al-Riyadh football club Friday August 21, 2026 in the second match of the Saudi Pro League 2026-27.
Al-Nassr Skipper Cristiano Ronaldo icon rejoined the squad last week after his marriage to Georgina Rodriguez. But, Al Nassr Saudi FC, which had won the SPL 2025/26 Championship, started its SPL 26/27 campaign without the Portuguese icon when it played against Al Fateh on August 15, 2026.
Al-Nassr won its opening match against Al-Fateh 3-1. Joao Felix, Angelo Gabriel and Samu Costa were stars as Al Nassr defeated Al-Fateh in both teams’ SPL 2026/27 opening match.
Why was Ronaldo absent from Al-Nassr's SPL 26/27 opening match?
Cristiano Ronaldo, who remains central to Al-Nassr’s attacking plans, decided not to play in the Al-Nassr’s Saudi Pro League opener against Al Fateh. He was in the stadium and watched from the stands as Saudi Arabia's top football club started the Ange Postecoglou era with a 3-0 victory, earning 3 important points in SPL 2026 Standings Table.
Interestingly, Ronaldo also missed the Al-Nassr’s Round of 32 King Cup of Champions match against Diriyah played on Tuesday August 18, 2026.
Ronaldo’s absence from the Al Nassr's Saudi Pro League 2026-27 opener and King Cup of Champions was linked to his limited preparation after returning from his wedding celebrations.
Will Ronaldo Play Today?
Though Al-Nassr is yet to release the final line-up to play against Al-Riyadh at Prince Turki bin Abdulaziz Stadium in Saudi Capital Riyadh tonight. But, all indications suggest that Cristiano Ronaldo is ready and all set to hit the ground after marriage break.
Cristiano Ronaldo was also seen practicing at Al-Nassr House with team mates ahead of its all important match against Al-Riyadh, kickstart time 07:00 PM (Riyadh Time).
"Building towards the next three points", "The work is done. Tomorrow, we play" and "That’s a wrap on preparations... Matchday next" are some of the matches posted by Al-Nassr FC on its official X handle @AlNassrFC_EN.
Strongly indicating that Cristiano Ronaldo will lead Al-Nassr in its match against Al-Riyadh today, the team has tagged the images of Ronaldo practicing with all the above posts.
Ronaldo all set to reach 1,000 goal milestone this season
Cristiano Ronaldo’s last match was on July 6, 2026 for Portugal against Spain in the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In the same match, CR7 bid farewell to the global tournament after Spain ended Portugal’s 2026 FIFA World Cup Journey.
Ronaldo has so far scored a total of 976 goals in international football, and with every goals scored in the Saudi Pro League, the legendary footballer will become closer to his dream target of 1,000 goals - a milestone no player has reached so far.
Ronaldo had scored 28 goals across all competitions last season, including 26 in the Saudi Pro League. And if he continues to play as he did in the last season, there is no reason he will not be able to add 24 goals needed to take his career goal target of 1,000 goals historic number.
Meanwhile, Al Hilal Thursday defeated Al-Fayah in its second match of the Saudi Pro League latest season. Al-Hilal now leads the SPL 26/27 standings table with the highest 6 points.
Al-Nassr will play its next SPL match against Al-Ettifaq on August 25, 2026 whereas Al-Hilal, the runner-up in the SPL 25/26, will take on Al-Khaleej on August 28, 2026.
[Zohair Mohammed Safwan is Staff Writer at ummid.com.]
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