Ronaldo returns after Portugal quarrel to score in Al-Nassr win

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkCristiano Ronaldo scored on his Al-Nassr return but his Portugal future remains unclear [Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters]By The Associated PressPublished On 10 Oct 202610 Oct 2026Cristiano Ronaldo returned to club football action on Friday after a controversial international break with Portugal and scored the opening goal as Al-Nassr beat Diriyah 3-0 in the Saudi Pro League.The victory put the defending champions level on points behind leader Al-Qadsiah on goal difference in the eighth round.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Man Utd and Spurs managers brace for ‘El Sackicko’ – all to knowlist 2 of 4Premier League managers give first reaction to Man City crisis: All to knowlist 3 of 4Real Madrid’s Mourinho lashes out at ‘ridiculous’ criticism of Mbappelist 4 of 4Why Manchester City charges leave Liverpool angry for Premier League clashend of listDuring the international window, the 41-year-old Ronaldo walked out of the Portugal squad, for which he has scored 146 goals in 234 appearances.In a long statement posted on Tuesday, Ronaldo said Portugal coach Jorge Jesus had not been true to his word about when he would play the striker in the Nations League. Ronaldo won the Saudi Arabia title in May with Jesus as Al-Nassr coach, and opened the scoring on Friday midway through the first half.Kingsley Coman’s shot from outside the area was blocked by goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah, and Ronaldo was there to shoot home the rebound from close range for goal number 980 in his career.Samu Costa added a second for Al-Nassr, coached by former Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou, just before the break, and Coman sealed the win with 13 minutes remaining.Al-Qadsiah earlier thrashed Al-Kholood 5-0, with Dutch international Tijjani Reijnders opening the scoring and Italy’s Mateo Retegui and Mexico’s Julian Quinones also finding the target.