Not even Saudi Arabia or FIFA could get Cristiano Ronaldo to the Club World Cup

By Canadian Press on June 17, 2025.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — In the end, not even Saudi Arabia or Gianni Infantino could engineer a way to get Cristiano Ronaldo to the Club World Cup.

FIFA president Infantino certainly tried – last month making a public appeal ahead of the tournament.

“If any club is watching and is interested in hiring Ronaldo for the Club World Cup …,” he teased during an interview with YouTuber iShowSpeed.

Ronaldo’s contract with Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr was due to expire and FIFA’s decision to create a specially-made mini transfer window for its newest competition meant the path was clear for the Real Madrid great to sign a short-term deal with a new team just in time to take part.

Given his connection to Saudi Arabia, where he was the face of the oil-rich kingdom’s spectacular drive to sign some of soccer’s biggest stars in recent years, rumors began to circulate about a move to Al Hilal – the country’s most successful team and its sole representative at the Club World Cup.

The problem was that Al Hilal and Al-Nassr are cross-city rivals in Riyadh. And even if Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund majority owns both teams – along with others – that was a step too far.

“As much as I respect Ronaldo as a huge player, as we all recognize he is, it’s certainly completely counter-intuitive that you bring the biggest player of your biggest opponent to play with you,” Al Hilal chief executive Esteve Calzada told the BBC. “Even more when it’s only for three to four weeks.”

Maybe so, but Saudi Arabia, with its vast wealth, has a made habit out of turning the improbable into the possible. And the very fact the prospect of a short-term move between clubs was even rumored, points to the boundaries it has been able to push while making its big play to become a force in global sport.

It has, after all, already changed the face of golf and virtually cornered the market for big time boxing. F1 racing is a fixed event and top class tennis has been lured, as well.

It’s ambitions in soccer have been the most spectacular of all – winning the right to host the 2034 World Cup, buying one of the Premier League’s most iconic teams in Newcastle and luring a slew of superstar players to a league that has nothing like the profile of those in Europe or Latin America.

Which is why it is perhaps surprising that Al Hilal arrives at the Club World Cup without the type of global star Saudi Arabian clubs have been collecting since Ronaldo’s move opened the floodgates at the end of 2022.

The four-time Asian champion did have Brazil great Neymar – signed for $94 million in 2023 – but he was released in January after an ACL injury reduced him to just seven appearances.

A move was made for Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes just before the Club World Cup, but the Portugal midfielder rejected the offer.

There are big money recruits in the form of Aleksandar Mitrovic, Joao Cancelo, Kalidou Koulibaly and Ruben Neves. But perhaps the significant acquisition was Simone Inzaghi, who left Italian giant Inter Milan earlier this month to become arguably the highest profile coach to head to Saudi Arabia.

“My ambition, the ambition of the club, is to try to grow more, to try to make Al Hilal become one of the best football clubs,” he said ahead of his first game in charge – against 15-time European champion Real Madrid at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium on Wednesday. “I believe the time has come to get out of my comfort zone.”

Madrid versus Al Hilal could be seen as a case of soccer’s old money versus a seemingly unstoppable disrupter.

Madrid is the biggest powerhouse in the world’s most popular sport – its most successful and most storied team. Soccer, however, is witnessing an undoubted powershift and Saudi Arabia is a coming force.

“Sometimes we just focus on what’s going on in Europe, and we think there’s nothing else beyond Europe. We’re too focused on Europe,” Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

James Robson, The Associated Press

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