Cristiano Ronaldo has played in only four football teams despite his footballing career spanning over 20 years now. Since making his senior debut back in 2002 with Primeira Liga club Sporting Club de Portugal, the centre-forward has come a long way having plied his trade in some of the biggest football clubs across Europe. Here is everything about all the Cristiano Ronaldo teams, you need to know.
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Cristiano Ronaldo: Teams that he has played for
| Clubs | Years | Appearances | Goals |
| Sporting Club de Portugal | 2002 – 2003 | 31 | 5 |
| Manchester United | 2003 – 2009 | 292 | 118 |
| Real Madrid | 2009 – 2018 | 438 | 450 |
| Juventus | 2018 – 2021 | 134 | 101 |
| Manchester United | 2021 – Present |
Named after former US President Ronald Reagan, a 15-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo had to overcome a heart condition, which required surgery, before he started playing football. He started with Madeira’s local club Clube Desportivo Nacional before moving to Sporting Clube de Portugal – popularly known as Sporting Lisbon. In the Sporting Lisbon set-up, Cristiano Ronaldo played for the club’s numerous youth teams before finally making his debut in 2002.
Sporting CP: 2002-2003
Cristiano Ronaldo started as a right-winger in Sporting CP, where his athleticism and strength soon earned him a spotlight among the top clubs in Europe. Though he could only score five goals for the Portuguese outfit in 31 appearances, his cameos were highly revered by the fans with the club winning three domestic titles that season – Superliga (the Portuguese League), Taça de Portugal (the Portuguese Cup and Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (the Portuguese Super Cup).
Romanian manager László Bölöni had really unlocked the potential of Portuguese international with the forward even managing six assists in his only season with the club.
Manchester United: 2003-09
While Cristiano Ronaldo got the exposure at Sporting CP, it was his first stint with Manchester United that made the forward a household name across the world. Under Sir Alex Ferguson, who had roped in Cristiano Ronaldo for a reported £12.24 million fee, the forward evolved into a goal-scoring machine. He became a regular in the Premier League and the Champion League, playing alongside the likes of Wayne Rooney, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Ryan Giggs and more.
After progressing rapidly year after year, it was in the 2006-07 Premier League season that Cristiano Ronaldo finally broke free to score in double-figures for the first time in his footballing career. He scored 20 goals and managed 23 assists as Manchester United lifted the English Premier League. He would follow that up with an incredible 42 goals feat next season, with the Red Devils winning both the Premier League as well as the UEFA Champions League in 2007-2008.
Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester United for Real Madrid in 2009 with three EPL titles, one FA Cup, one UEFA Champions League medal, one Club World Cup title, two FA Community Shields and two English League Cups. Apart from winning his first Ballon D’Or (2008) during this time, he had won the UEFA Club Forward of the Year in 2008 and became FA’s Footballer of the Year in 2007 and 2008.
Real Madrid: 2009-18
Real Madrid had shelled out a then-world record of £80 million to bring Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United and the move was worth every penny. He scored a whopping 33 goals in his first season with Los Blancos to kickstart his footballing career’s best phase with the La Liga giants. In the 438 matches that Ronaldo played for Real Madrid, he managed 132 assists and scored an unbelievable 450 goals to become the club’s all-time highest goal-scorer.
Like Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo shared the Real Madrid dressing room with real stalwarts of the game in Toni Kroos, Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema, Angel Di Maria, Luka Modric and more. With Real Madrid, Ronaldo went on to win an unparalleled four UEFA Champions League titles, two La Liga titles, three Club World Cups, three European Super Cups, two Copa del Rey and two Supercopa titles as well.
Real Madrid saw Ronaldo play under iconic managers like Manuel Pellegrini, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Rafael Benitez and Zinedine Zidane who managed to make the most optimum use of the superstar. Ronaldo ended up winning four more Ballon d’Ors and becoming the FIFA Men’s Player of the Year twice.
Juventus: 2018-21
Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid a legend in 2018 to join Serie A giants Juventus, with the Italian club’s sole aim of winning the long evading UEFA Champions League. And although the five-time UCL winner failed to win the European title with the Italian club, he did deliver them two Serie A league titles, one Italian Cup and one Supercoppa Italiana (Italian Super Cup).
Since Sporting CP, Cristiano Ronaldo had his shortest club stint at any club with Juventus (three years), where he scored 101 goals in 134 appearances. Unlike Manchester United and Real Madrid, Juventus were on the downhill when Ronaldo joined them. With the management inexperienced as well, Ronaldo’s time at Juventus ended early with the player returning to his old club Manchester United in 2021.
Manchester United: 2021-Present
A 36-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo came back to Manchester United for a reported €25m fee on August 27, 2021, to write another chapter with the Red Devils. He wasted no time in getting on the scoresheet as Manchester United beat Newcastle United 2-1 in the first EPL match, courtesy of a brace by the star forward.
Portugal National Team: 2003-Present
Ronaldo had to play in the U-15, U-17, U-20, U-21 and the Olympic team before he could make his senior debut for the Portugal national team on August 20, 2003, against Kazakhstan in an international friendly. And it was his solitary goal that had given Portugal the win. Cristiano Ronaldo became a mainstay during the Euro 2004 when Portugal managed to reach the final.
Though Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a mesmerizing 115 goals for the national team and is currently the top-scorer in the world with the most international goals, his only big success with Portugal came in Euro 2016, when Portugal had beaten France to win the European Championship.
