Sporting pay tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo after his international retirement

Sporting Lisbon paid tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo during its match against Moreirense on Saturday at José Alvalade Stadium. Supporters dedicated the seventh minute of the game, part of the 11th round of Portugal’s top-flight league, to the former Sporting player, now Al-Nassr’s captain. The gesture followed his official announcement that he was retiring from international football, bringing renewed attention to his enduring connection with the club where his career began.

Several banners in the stands conveyed the supporters’ appreciation. One read, “Thank you, Cristiano Ronaldo.” As the seventh minute of the first half began, the Juve Leo supporters’ group also unfurled a banner: “From Alvalade to the world… You are the greatest, you are one of us! Thank you, Cristiano Ronaldo.” Its words linked the forward’s journey to his Sporting roots while celebrating the reach of his career.

Images on the stadium screens recalled Ronaldo’s early days, showing his number 28 shirt. He wore that number in Sporting’s youth teams and later for the first team, before leaving for the Premier League. The shirt gave the tribute a personal note: even as supporters marked the end of his time with the national side, they pointed back to the first stage of his professional career at their club.

Ronaldo had announced on Thursday the end of an international career spanning more than 20 years with Portugal. He played 234 matches for the national team and scored 146 goals. During that period, Portugal won Euro 2016 and the UEFA Nations League in 2019 and 2025. Those titles and figures underline the scale of the career the supporters chose to celebrate, while keeping the focus on the Lisbon beginnings behind the global career.

The Portuguese Football Federation also promised to pay tribute to Ronaldo, in an announcement dated 7 November 2026. Sporting’s display was therefore one of the gestures of recognition that followed his decision. At Alvalade, the tribute returned to his beginnings: a youth-team shirt, a minute set aside and a message that still claimed him as one of their own.