Cristiano Ronaldo's historical 100th Al Nassr goal goes in vain as Al Ahli clinch Saudi Super Cup on penalties

Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo will have to wait for his first official title with Al Nassr after his team suffered a heartbreaking loss to Al Ahli in the final of the Saudi Super Cup on penalties on Saturday, August 23. Despite leading the final for a brief time in the second half, Ronaldo's team faced a 3-5 loss on penalties, with both teams remaining 2-2 in the regulation time. 

Al Nassr skipper Ronaldo opened the score sheet in the 41st minute with a penalty strike after the ball struck Ali Majrashi's arm in the box. This was his 100th strike for the club. Five minutes into the extra time of the first half, Franck Kessie equalised with a strike from the edge of the box to the far corner as the two teams went 1-1 at the halfway point.

Al Nassr restored their lead late in the second half as Marcelo Brozovic found the back of the net in the 82nd minute; however, the Royals equalised yet again with Roger Ibanez scoring a goal in the 89th minute and pushing the clash into penalties.

Al



Ahli converted all of their five chances into goals, while Al Nassr missed once, when Edouard Mendy saved Abdullah Al-Khaibari’s strike on the fourth attempt. Al Ahli began the penalties first and scored on all five of their attempts.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo has created a historical record with his 100th goal for Al Nassr. Ronaldo has become the first-ever player to score at least 100 goals for four different clubs. The Portuguese legend has netted 450 goals for Real Madrid, 145 for Manchester United and 101 for Juventus before.

Notably, Ronaldo's wait for his first official title with Al Nassr continues as he suffered his third-straight defeat in the tournament finals with the Saudi club. Al Nassr had suffered defeats in the 2023–24 King’s Cup final and the 2024 Saudi Super Cup final to Al Hilal, while they have now lost to Al Ahli. Ronaldo has a title to show for, having won the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup with the club; however, the tournament was an unofficial one and is not recognised as an official FIFA tournament.