The 12th failed attempt at winning a trophy, Cristiano Ronaldo’s trophy drought in Saudi Arabia continues.

Written by Han Bing Although the opponent switched to Al-Ittihad and the venue moved to Hong Kong, Ronaldo remains unable to shake off his trophyless streak during two years and eight months in the Saudi league. In the Saudi Super Cup final held in Hong Kong, despite Ronaldo opening the scoring with a penalty and being the first to convert in the shootout, the team lost the title because a Saudi teammate missed a penalty. After the match, a deeply disappointed Ronaldo removed his captain’s armband and sadly high-fived his teammates. Since joining in early 2023, Al Nassr has paid Ronaldo over 560 million euros in salary and signing fees. During this time, he has competed in 12 tournaments, reached three cup finals, yet still failed to win a trophy.

The 2025 Saudi Super Cup was held in East Asia for the first time, marking Hong Kong’s debut as host for an official foreign league match. This was Ronaldo’s third cup final since joining Al Nassr and his second appearance in the Saudi Super Cup final. Previously, in 2024, he lost both the King’s Cup and Saudi Super Cup finals to Al Hilal. However, this time, the defending champion Al Hilal withdrew from the Saudi Super Cup to prepare for the Club World Cup, and the final opponent, Al-Ittihad, had been a tough rival for Ronaldo—he faced them four times before with three wins and one draw, scoring four goals. Before the match, Ronaldo and Al Nassr were widely expected to win the title.

However, in the previous four overseas Saudi Super Cups, Al Nassr only reached the final once, losing to Al Hilal at Crystal Palace’s home ground in London in 2015. In 2016, Al-Ittihad won the title in a penalty shootout against Al Hilal at Fulham’s home ground in London. Nine years later in Hong Kong, Al-Ittihad replicated their penalty shootout victory to lift the trophy, extending Ronaldo’s trophyless nightmare in the Saudi league despite his recent high-paying contract renewal.

In this Saudi Super Cup final, Ronaldo led the attack alongside former Portuguese prodigy Felix and French winger Coman, two strong summer signings. Spanish center-back Iñigo Martínez anchored the defense. Eight of the starting eleven were foreign players, though winger Mané missed the match due to a red card suspension from the semifinal. Al-Ittihad’s frontline included former Premier League striker Ivan Toney, along with ex-Premier League players Mahrez and Mendy, with nine foreign players starting.

In the 37th minute of the first half, Al-Ittihad defender M’Bala handballed to block a cross from Yehya inside the box, leading to a penalty which Ronaldo powerfully converted to break the deadlock. This was Ronaldo’s fifth goal against Al-Ittihad and his third consecutive final where he scored. However, in the 6th minute of first-half stoppage time, Al-Ittihad’s defensive midfielder Kessié fired a shot to equalize. Yet Kessié was also the cause of his team’s downfall: in the 82nd minute, Brozović intercepted him, and the Croatian midfielder almost identically put Al Nassr ahead again.

With the trophy seemingly within reach, just six minutes later, Al Nassr goalkeeper Bento made a crucial error, allowing Iñigo Ibáñez to head into an open net and level the score, sending the match directly to a penalty shootout.

Although Ronaldo scored the first penalty, the fourth local player Haibari had his shot saved by Mendy. Al Nassr lost the cup final in a penalty shootout again after more than a year. This also marked Ronaldo’s third consecutive club cup final lost in penalty shootouts.

Since the Portuguese Super Cup in August 2002, Ronaldo’s professional career has spanned 23 years, during which he has played in 36 cup finals, winning 25 and losing 11, with a total of 21 goals and 3 assists. He has participated in 13 “super cups” across Sporting CP, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, and Al Nassr, lifting the trophy 8 times.

However, since joining Al Nassr in early 2023, Ronaldo has failed to win any of the 12 trophies he contested. These include 4 Saudi Super Cups, 3 Saudi League titles, 3 King’s Cups, and one each in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Elite League. Although Ronaldo led Al Nassr to win the Arab Champions League trophy in summer 2023, the competition is organized by the non-official Arab Football Federation and is not recognized by the AFC, CAF, or FIFA.