Ronaldo Nazário

Ronaldo Nazário (born September 18 or 22, 1976, Itaguai, Brazil) known by the mononym Ronaldo, is a retired football (soccer) player who helped Brazil to a World Cup title in 2002. He won the Ballon d’Or (1997 and 2002) and three Player of the Year awards (1996, 1997, and 2002) from the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Ronaldo played for some of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Inter Milan, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and AC Milan. Widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers and forwards, Ronaldo was famous for his combination of pace, power, dribbling, technical skill, and finishing ability.

(Also see Britannica’s list of 50 greatest men’s footballers.)

Birth date

According to a FIFA tribute published in 2024:

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Ronaldo was born in Itaguai, Rio de Janeiro on 18 September 1976, but his birth certificate was only issued four days later when his parents had scraped together enough money to pay for it. “The doctor delivered me for free because my parents couldn’t afford the birth,” Ronaldo explained. “Eventually, my father gathered three kilos of shrimp from the beach and gave it to the doctor as thanks. They also gave me the doctor’s name.”

The discrepancy between the date on Ronaldo’s birth certificate (September 22) and the date on which he says he was born (September 18)—the latter date supported by Ronaldo: The Journey of a Genius (2005), an enthusiastic biography by James Mosley, who claimed direct access to people around Ronaldo—has resulted in both dates being celebrated as his birthday on social media and elsewhere online by people, clubs, and organizations. Ronaldo himself has sent mixed signals. Among his former European clubs, the websites of at least three (FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid) state that he was born on September 22, 1976.

Early life and career in Brazil

Ronaldo grew up in the poor Rio de Janeiro suburb of Bento Ribeiro. As a child, he played futsal, an indoor version of football played with fewer players on a smaller surface. Futsal helped him develop close control, quick feet, and dribbling skills that later became hallmarks of his game. He began playing football as a junior for the neighborhood Social Ramos Club at age 12 and two years later joined São Cristóvão in the Carioca League. By 1992 he was playing in the Brazilian championship for Cruzeiro, where he became one of Brazil’s most promising young talents, scoring prolifically and attracting the attention of several European clubs, including PSV Eindhoven.

Ronaldo was a member of Brazil’s under-17 South American championship team in 1991 before joining the national side in 1994. That same year, at age 17, he was selected for Brazil’s squad at the 1994 World Cup in the United States. Brazil won the World Cup, although Ronaldo did not play a single match.

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European club play: PSV Eindhoven, FC Barcelona, and Inter Milan

Ronaldo was transferred in 1994 from Cruzeiro to PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands, where he scored 55 goals in 56 games and won the 1995 league championship and the 1996 Dutch Cup.

After switching to FC Barcelona of Spain for the 1996–97 season, he scored 34 goals in 37 appearances and helped his team capture the Spanish Super Cup. He also helped the club win the Copa del Rey and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Cup Winners’ Cup and was named FIFA’s Player of the Year in 1996.

Because of his success in Spain, Ronaldo was paid $27 million by Inter Milan to play for the Italian club in 1997, a record at the time. At Inter his excellent dribbling skills and knack for scoring goals earned him the nickname “Il Fenomeno.” In 1997 Ronaldo became the first player to win FIFA’s Player of the Year award two years in a row and also won the Ballon d’Or.

1998 World Cup and injuries

At the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, Ronaldo helped Brazil reach the final, scoring four goals along the way. Hours before the final against France, however, he reportedly suffered a medical episode and was initially omitted from the squad but was later reinstated. Brazil lost 3–0, and the circumstances surrounding Ronaldo’s condition became one of the most debated episodes in World Cup history. Despite the loss, Ronaldo won the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament.

In 1999 he suffered a serious knee injury, while playing for Inter Milan, that left him unable to play for almost two years. Shortly after his comeback in 2000, he suffered another major knee injury that kept him out of competitive play for the rest of the year.

A World Cup title and a move to Real Madrid

Dismissing concerns that his career was over, Ronaldo returned to competitive play in 2001. He helped Brazil win its fifth World Cup championship in 2002, partnering with Rivaldo and Ronaldinho to form one of the greatest attacking trios in football history. He scored both goals in Brazil’s 2–0 win over Germany in the final and won the Golden Boot as the tournament’s leading scorer, with eight goals.

He then announced that he was leaving Inter for Real Madrid of Spain. After much wrangling, Real agreed to pay a transfer fee of about $46.3 million. In 2002 Ronaldo was named both FIFA Player of the Year and European Footballer of the Year (an award he also had received in 1997). At Real Madrid he was part of the famed galácticos, or superstars era, playing alongside footballers such as Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Roberto Carlos, and Luís Figo. Ronaldo helped Real Madrid win the La Liga twice, in 2002–03 and 2006–07, and scored more than 100 goals for the club.

At the 2006 World Cup he scored three goals to bring his career total at the tournament to 15, setting a record that was broken in 2014 by Germany’s Miroslav Klose, with 16 goals, and improved by Argentina’s Lionel Messi in 2026, with 19 goals. Ronaldo played his last World Cup match in the quarterfinal against France, which Brazil lost 1–0.

Injuries and retirement

In 2007 Ronaldo joined Italian powerhouse AC Milan. The following year he ruptured a tendon in his left knee—the same type of injury that had occurred in his right knee in 1999—which some thought would put his career in jeopardy.

In December 2008 a fully recovered Ronaldo signed with Corinthians in São Paulo. However, he continued to be plagued by a number of other, less significant, leg injuries during his tenure with Corinthians as well as by a thyroid condition that caused him to gain weight. He helped Corinthians win the Campeonato Paulista and the Copa do Brasil in 2009. Ronaldo abruptly retired from the sport in February 2011. While announcing his retirement, an emotional Ronaldo admitted that constant injuries were one of the reasons he was hanging up his boots.

I’m stopping my career as a professional footballer. It’s been a beautiful, emotional, marvelous career. These last two years, I’ve had a long series of injuries, from one side to the other, one leg to the other, one muscle to the other. The pain pushed me to think about the end of my career.

In 2018 Ronaldo became the majority owner of the Spanish club Real Valladolid, and in 2021 he purchased a stake in Cruzeiro, where he had played early in his career. In 2024 he said that he would sell his holdings in both clubs.