Portuguese football legend Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed that he could retire from football in the near future

Cristiano Ronaldo has provided his clearest indication yet that he could retire from professional football next summer, admitting that his current season with Al Nassr FC will “probably” be his last.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner made the revelation shortly after marrying his long-term partner, Georgina Rodríguez, as he prepares for life beyond a remarkable 25-year playing career.

Ronaldo, who is just 24 goals away from reaching 1,000 senior career goals, has previously hinted that his playing days are approaching their conclusion.

Speaking after his glamorous wedding, the Portugal captain told Vogue that he expects to call time on his career when his current chapter with Al Nassr ends.

“This is probably my last year of football, and I want to leave a spectacular legacy,” Ronaldo said.

The forward also revealed that he already has plans for his life after football, although he admitted the transition could be difficult after spending more than two decades at the highest level.

“I have my future all mapped out. I have so many things to keep me busy that to tell you just one thing is hard,” he added.

After years of training, travelling and competing at the highest level, Ronaldo wants to embrace a different lifestyle once he hangs up his boots.

The Portuguese star said he intends to spend more time travelling, playing padel, watching the sport and enjoying the rewards of his extraordinary career.

“Because football could leave a big hole, you have to fill your time in various ways, not just one. And also have more fun, travel more, watch and play padel, which I really like, and continue to enjoy what I’ve earned — what we’ve earned. Because after all it’s been 25 years with a lot of sacrifice,” Ronaldo explained.

Ronaldo began his professional career with Sporting CP before starring for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus. He joined Al Nassr in January 2023 and remains under contract until June 2027.

His latest comments come after Lionel Messi also admitted that he may not continue playing for much longer after the passing of his father and agent Jorge Messi.

Ronaldo has already confirmed that the 2026 World Cup will be his final appearance at the tournament, where he became the only player to score in six editions, adding another potential milestone to what could be the closing chapter of one of football’s greatest careers.

Former Nigerian international Ben Iroha has expressed deep frustration over the state of Nigerian football, calling for urgent soul-searching after a series of disappointing results left the country facing an unprecedented run of missed major tournaments.

Iroha’s concerns come after setbacks involving the country’s senior men’s and women’s teams as well as the Flying Eagles, with Nigeria now set to miss several major international competitions.

The former Super Eagles defender believes the situation has gone beyond isolated failures and requires Nigerian football authorities to seriously examine how the country’s teams are being managed and developed.
“It’s Heartbreaking” – Iroha
Speaking about Nigeria’s recent struggles, Iroha admitted that he finds the situation difficult to comprehend given the country’s enormous pool of football talent.

The former international pointed to the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup as the beginning of what has become a worrying sequence of disappointments.

Nigeria’s men’s team watched the tournament from home, while the Super Falcons subsequently suffered their own historic setback by failing to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The Flying Eagles have also been eliminated from the qualification route for the 2027 U-20 AFCON, ending their hopes of reaching the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Iroha said via Complete Sports, “I can’t believe this, frankly speaking. It’s heartbreaking. Nigerians painfully watched the 2026 World Cup on television. We’re going to watch the Women’s World Cup, U-20 World Cup, and even the U-17 World Cup from the comfort of our living rooms.”

Iroha was particularly disappointed by the Super Falcons’ failure to recover after their difficult WAFCON campaign.

Nigeria lost to Cameroon in the quarter-finals, a result that denied them automatic qualification for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.

The Falcons were subsequently handed another opportunity through the CAF play-off route but suffered a 2-1 defeat to South Africa.

That result ended Nigeria’s extraordinary record of appearing at every Women’s World Cup since the competition began in 1991.

He added, “As if that was not enough heartbreak, the Super Falcons lost the opportunity to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

“Apart from the defeat to Malawi in the quarter-final, the Super Falcons failed again to beat South Africa in a World Cup play-off that could have given us a glimmer of hope.”

Rather than simply blaming coaches or players, Iroha believes Nigerian football needs a comprehensive review of how the game is administered and how national teams are prepared for major competitions
He wants football authorities to examine the decisions that have contributed to the recent failures and identify what needs to change.

He added, “We need to sit down and find out what has gone wrong, where we’ve got it wrong, and what we’ve not done that we should do. This is the first step. This trend can’t continue.”

General view of a Leicester City sign from the front of King Power StadiumLeicester City are looking to sell the club for more than £200m, with its Thai owners King Power ready to leave after 16 years.

The Foxes have had an eight-page sales booklet produced by a leading US investment bank to help offload the one-time Premier League title winners.

Citigroup lists the Foxes, its women’s team, and other major assets – including the 32,000-seat King Power Stadium and its Seagrave training facility which was opened in 2020 and is valued at £121m – as well as OH Leuven, Leicester’s Belgian sister club, as up for sale in a brochure titled ‘Project Lineup’.

The document, seen by BBC Sport, values the club’s physical assets at more than £200m, though no specific sum has been attributed to the sale of its struggling teams.

The brochure speaks of “a rare opportunity to acquire a club with an excellent track record of winning promotions to higher divisions”.

Leicester’s successes, including the 5,000-1 Premier League title win of 2016 and the FA Cup triumph five years later, are well promoted in the brochure, while their place in League One, after back-to-back relegations from the top flight and the Championship, fail to get a mention.

The club’s turnover, which Citigroup forecast to be more than £97m for the 2026 financial year are also part of the pitch, but the years of financial losses and the club’s debts – which, as outlined in its 2025 accounts, include £103.6m in bank loans – are omitted.

In the years that the club yo-yoed between the Premier League and Championship, with two relegations from the top flight in three years between 2023 and 2025, the club lost more than £180m.

King Power, run by the Srivaddhanaprabha family, bought Leicester for £35m from Milan Mandaric in 2010.

Khun Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha is currently chairman after his father Khun Vichai died in a helicopter crash outside the stadium in 2019.

Efforts to put the third-tier club up for sale were first reported in the Financial Times, external in July, but the product brochure now being circulated to prospective buyers is public confirmation that new investors are being sought.

The sale process comes just eight months on from Khun Top saying he is shouldering the blame for the club’s drastic recent demise.

There have been growing calls from disgruntled fans for the club to be sold, with the most vocal showing coming outside King Power Stadium after relegation from the Championship was confirmed last season.

Leicester’s struggles in recent years have come at a time when the King Power duty-free business in Thailand, which has been intrinsically linked to the club since the Srivaddhanaprabha family bought the Foxes, has also endured financial difficulties.

Despite the club’s issues, Leicester City is being positioned for sale as one of only five clubs to have won all three major English trophies – the Premier League, the FA Cup and the League Cup – since 2000.

The document also outlines the potential of the club’s academy, stating the Foxes have a “strong talent pipeline backed by leading scouting infrastructure, active transfer management and highly developed academy system consistently producing top players”.

Leicester sold academy graduate Jeremy Monga to Manchester City for £10m last month.

Leicester, relegated to League One for just the second time in their history last season, will start their latest campaign in the third tier under head coach Russell Martin at Notts County on Saturday.