Cristiano Ronaldo is in no rush to retire. Having become the first man to score in five FIFA World Cups in 2022, he's looking to make it six when Portugal begins its 2026 quest June 17 against Democratic Republic of the Congo.
But now that the 41-year-old forward is closer to the end of his career than the beginning, he's been busy signing the captain of his home team to a long-term deal, proposing to longtime partner Georgina Rodríguez last summer.
His fiancée showed off her massive diamond ring on Instagram Aug. 11 with the caption (translated from Spanish), "Yes, I do. In this and all of my lives."
The couple—who share daughters Alana, 8, and Bella, 4, as well as the athlete's son Cristiano Jr., whose 16th birthday coincides with the start of Group K play today, and 9-year-old twins Mateo and Eva Maria—already regularly called each other husband and wife, but actually tying the knot will give their union extra sparkle.
Yet while this is a sign that Ronaldo is looking ahead to life after soccer, there's no indication he'll be hanging up his competitive fire along with his cleats.
"My kids, they are like me," he said on a September 2024 episode of former Manchester United teammate Rio Ferdinand's podcast. "And I don't teach them, they see by example. Because sometimes when I lost I get angry and sometimes I cry, depends on the moment. And they are kind of the same, so even with my kids I compete. Even with Gio, I always want to win. I give nothing for free."
That might not sound like a particularly relaxing home environment. And yet, at the end of the day, he's still just Dad.
A Bugatti-driving, private jet-flying dad with an eight-pack and 666 million Instagram followers, but a devoted family man nonetheless. One who spends as much time as possible with his children and partner, wherever in the world they may be.
While Cristiano owns homes all over Europe—including an 8,600-square-foot mansion in Madrid Georgina said she got lost in when they were first dating—they have been based in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, since the athlete joined Al-Nassr FC in January 2023 for a guaranteed $75 million a year. (Though the sum is famously closer to $200 million after factoring in commercial deals through the club.)
And the age-defying athlete has said that he plans to keep playing as long as it feels right to him.
"Plan for retirement? If it has to happen, in one or two years...I don't know," he told reporters in November 2024 after a two-goal performance in a win for the Portuguese national team, per ESPN. "I really want to enjoy, as long as I feel motivated I keep going. The day I don't feel motivated, I will retire."
But even then, you won't see him in a quarter-zip and puffer on the sidelines.
"I don't see myself managing a team; that's not in my plans," Ronaldo continued. "My future lies in other areas outside of football, although time will tell what happens."
Lack of managerial aspirations aside (club ownership, meanwhile, "makes more sense," he told La Sexta), he is coaching his eldest son in the fundamentals of the beautiful game. And not only does his firstborn look just like him...
"I was in the Red Sea a couple days ago, I play everyday padel," the athlete said on Rio Ferdinand Presents, referring to the racket sport. "And me and Cristiano Jr. get mad, we don't speak [to each other] for two days. And I say, this is why I'm happy. And even the small one, Mateo [miming a pulsing vein in his face]...But I like it, this shows that they have personality."
And that sounds pretty on brand for a guy in the GOAT conversation who's known for his swagger, hard-core training regimen and singular focus on the pitch.
But while Cristiano was amassing Ballon d'Ors (five), Golden Boots (four), league titles (eight, including the Saudi Pro League championship he helped Al Nassr clinch in May) and so on, he was also busy building his family in an unexpected way.
Read on for all the details on his fiancée Georgina and their kids:
When Cristiano Ronaldo met Georgina Rodríguez in 2016 at a Gucci store in Madrid where she was working as a sales assistant, No. 7 didn't dare think he'd met the one.
He had previously acknowledged that, while there were plenty of women eager to date him, he was aware that many of them had ulterior motives.
"To speak serious, it is not easy," Ronaldo said on the U.K.'s Jonathan Ross Show in November 2015, months after he and Irina Shayk ended a five-year relationship. "I know 50 percent approach just for interest. It's normal, not just me, but all the people who are famous, they have these kinds of problems."
So when he started dating Georgina, "I didn't expect it, honestly," Ronaldo said in the Netflix series I Am Georgina. "But after a while I felt that she was the woman of my life."
He often picked her up after work and, as she recalled in the series, per the show's Spanish-to-English translation, "I remember once in a Bugatti. My coworkers went crazy. They get there on the bus, and I would leave in a Bugatti. I mean people couldn't believe it."
But instead of ferrying her to an equally attention-grabbing location, they'd usually just go home, Cristiano said, "into our own world."
Georgina described her partner as "great" and "a very normal guy," noting, "I dreamed of having a Prince Charming by my side and now I have him."
For years her official title (Mrs.? Princess?) was unclear, Ronaldo publicly referring to Georgina as his wife long before she said "I do" to a massive diamond engagement ring in August 2025.
Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. was born on June 17, 2010, while his dad was in South Africa playing in the World Cup. But the athlete flew immediately to see his firstborn child as soon as Portugal was knocked out of the tournament—and proceeded to raise him as a single dad.
"It is with great joy and emotion that I inform I have recently become father to a baby boy,” he shared in a statement on his social media accounts at the time. "As agreed with the baby’s mother, who prefers to have her identity kept confidential, my son will be under my exclusive guardianship."
Cristiano Jr. has been front and center in his father's life ever since, traveling all over the world with him and, naturally, picking up the beautiful game.
The teen trained at the youth clubs of whichever team Ronaldo was playing for, including Real Madrid and Juventus. And when the family moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2023 after the five-time Ballon d'Or winner signed a contract worth $200 million a year with Al Nassr FC, Cristiano Jr. subsequently started playing in the team's youth academy.
But though his eldest child has designs on playing professionally, which Ronaldo would admittedly love, he insists he's not pressuring Cristiano Jr. to make that dream a reality.
"This generation, it's difficult to tell them something and let them do it...They see me every day what I do, at home, or in training or in a game," the athlete said on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast in September 2024. "They say, 'My dad works a lot every time.' They see that."
As for his son, he continued, "He has pressure on him already being the son of Cristiano...Let him do his things. I hope so, in the future, he can be a professional player. If he's not a player, does another job, I always will support him. We can't make pressure on our sons because we are famous."
And yet it's looking good, with his son helping lead Portugal's under-16 squad to a win over England in the Federations Cup Tournament in November 2025.
"I love being a mom," Georgina captioned pics celebrating his victory. "I am very proud of my big boy."
While Georgina didn't come into Ronaldo's life until his son was 6, she considers Cristiano Jr. as much her son as she does the kids they later had together.
When the lad turned 14 in 2024, she posted to her Instagram, "Happy Birthday to my big boy...I love you to the moon and baaacccckkkk." (She also wasn't kidding about big: In the video she shared of him opening presents, the teen was taller than his mom. And the proud owner of a Louis Vuitton roller bag.)
Ronaldo was about seven months into his relationship with Georgina when he welcomed twins Mateo and Eva Maria Ronaldo via surrogate on June 8, 2017.
"So happy to be able to hold the two new loves of my life," he captioned the first photo he shared of his infant son and daughter a few weeks later.
And so Georgina became mom to Ronaldo's three eldest children, telling Vogue Mexico in 2024, "Being a mother is the best thing that's ever happened to me and my absolute priority. Every moment I spend with my family is when I'm happiest and most realized."
Georgina gave birth to daughter Alana Martina Ronaldo, her first child with Ronaldo, on Nov. 12, 2017. And she's already co-captain of the whole family team.
In Netflix's I Am Georgina, which premiered in 2022, Ronaldo asked Alana at the dinner table what she wanted to be when she grew up, and she hilariously pushed back.
"Nothing," she said in Spanish. "Nothing. I wanna stay at home and be at peace."
Her dad had a good laugh, then predicted that she would be an actress. When she instead mimed taking photos, he suggested "Netflix producer," and Alana heartily agreed, clapping her hands.
Cristiano and Georgina welcomed twins Bella Esmeralda Ronald and Ángel Ronaldo on April 18, 2022, but Ángel died at birth.
"This year I had the best and the worst moment of my life in an instant," Georgina reflected on a season two episode of her series that dropped in 2023.
"Life is hard," she continued. "Life goes on...I have reasons to move on and be strong. Cris really encouraged me to continue with my agenda. He said, 'Gio, get on with life. It'll do you good.'"
At the same time, Ronaldo has said that, after having to share with their other children the devastating news that Bella's twin wouldn't be coming home, they talk about Ángel every day.
"The kids understand, we had shouts around the table and they say, 'Daddy, I did this for Ángel,' and they point to the sky," Ronaldo shared in a November 2022 interview with Piers Morgan. "Which I like the most because he's part of their lives. I am not gonna lie to my kids, I say the truth, which was a difficult process."
Bella is happily thriving, Georgina sharing video of her youngest on her lap while they watched one of her sibling’s school performances in December 2024.
“Seeing my kids grow up happy and sharing moments with my family is my best blessing. I couldn't be happier with the wonderful family we've made," Georgina said in the Netflix series. "My kids are wonderful. I know it's bad to say it but they're perfect kids, they're a dream."