Cristiano Ronaldo: Could He Play Until 50?
Teddy Sheringham has seen footballers age, fade and finally let go. Cristiano Ronaldo, he insists, is not one of them.
The former England striker believes Ronaldo’s body and mindset are so extreme, so out of the ordinary, that the Portuguese forward could keep playing until he is 50.
Sheringham, speaking to BOYLE Sports, did not flinch when asked if that was realistic.
“Could Cristiano Ronaldo play into his 50s at this rate? It wouldn’t surprise me when you look at his body at 41. He’s still as fit as a fiddle,” he said. “He’s had his own training team for the past 15 years to keep him in tip top shape and as long as he still has the desire then he will keep going but it’s tough when you get to that age, getting out of bed every day to go and do your training.”
That, in many ways, is the Ronaldo story now. Less about the stepovers and more about the science. Restrictive diets. Cryotherapy chambers. Tailored conditioning sessions. A training regime so unforgiving that most professionals wouldn’t dare copy it, let alone sustain it into their 40s.
Most players are long retired by their mid-30s. Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d'Or winner, is instead preparing to lead Portugal into the 2026 World Cup in North America, still the reference point for professionalism in the modern game.
Sheringham has watched the late-career reinvention with admiration.
“I’m sure he still loves what he’s doing and he’s playing in a league that’s obviously not as strong as other competitions around the world, but if you’re still scoring goals and people still want you to play, then why not keep going,” he said. “He has an air of invincibility around him, and he’s got the body as well and the fitness, so I think we’ve got plenty of years of Ronaldo to come yet.”
The Saudi Pro League may not carry the same weight as the Premier League or La Liga, but Ronaldo’s numbers and influence there remain undeniable. He still scores. He still draws crowds. He still dictates games.
What he will not do, in Sheringham’s eyes, is go back to Europe.
The forward has already conquered it: Champions League titles, domestic crowns in England, Spain and Italy. Real Madrid, Manchester United, Juventus. That chapter, Sheringham believes, is closed, even with Jose Mourinho’s return to the Bernabéu stirring romantic talk of a reunion.
“Can I see Cristiano Ronaldo coming back to Real Madrid to play under Jose Mourinho again? Definitely not. He will not be coming back to Europe,” Sheringham said firmly.
The modern European game, with its tactical demands, financial structures and relentless pace, feels like a world Ronaldo has already completed rather than one he needs to revisit. The nostalgia is strong, but the fit no longer is.
If there is to be another move, Sheringham sees it going west, not back.
He points to the United States as the obvious next stop, should Ronaldo decide he wants one last new landscape before retirement. Lionel Messi has already transformed MLS. The idea of Ronaldo joining him on American soil is the kind of prospect that would send shockwaves through the league and beyond.
“He might go to America though if he wants to experience something else,” Sheringham added. “You could see that, and he’d certainly light MLS up like no one else can. Maybe it will all come down to what he wants to do once he finally does retire.”
For now, the horizon is clear: Al-Nassr, the Saudi Pro League and another tilt at the World Cup. Portugal open their 2026 campaign on Wednesday against DR Congo in Group K, with Ronaldo still expected to be the standard-bearer for a nation that has grown used to leaning on him.
The idea of a 50-year-old Ronaldo still playing once sounded like a joke. Now, when a seasoned striker like Sheringham says it out loud, it lands less as fantasy and more as a genuine, if outrageous, possibility.
