Teddy Sheringham on Cristiano Ronaldo's Future: Could He Play Until 50?
Teddy Sheringham has seen careers stretch and snap. He played until 40 himself, long after most strikers had vanished from the top level. So when he says Cristiano Ronaldo could keep going to 50, he’s not trying to be cute. He sounds deadly serious.
Speaking to BOYLE Sports, Sheringham looked at Ronaldo’s current condition and barely blinked at the idea of another decade of football.
“Could Cristiano Ronaldo play into his 50s at this rate? It wouldn’t surprise me when you look at his body at 41. He’s still as fit as a fiddle,” he said. “He’s had his own training team for the past 15 years to keep him in tip top shape and as long as he still has the desire then he will keep going but it’s tough when you get to that age, getting out of bed every day to go and do your training.”
Ronaldo’s obsession with his body is no secret. Restrictive diets. Cryotherapy. Personal trainers. Tailored schedules. While most players drift into retirement in their mid-30s, he has built a lifestyle around stretching the limits of what a footballer’s career can be. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner is still leading the line for Al-Nassr and is preparing to drag Portugal into yet another World Cup cycle, this time towards the 2026 tournament in North America.
Sheringham knows what that grind feels like in your late 30s. Ronaldo is doing it in his 40s and still looks carved out of marble.
“I’m sure he still loves what he’s doing and he’s playing in a league that’s obviously not as strong as other competitions around the world,” Sheringham said. “But if you’re still scoring goals and people still want you to play, then why not keep going. He has an air of invincibility around him, and he’s got the body as well and the fitness, so I think we’ve got plenty of years of Ronaldo to come yet.”
The goals in Saudi Arabia keep flowing, but Sheringham draws a hard line at any notion of a European encore. Ronaldo has already taken the Champions League by storm, collected titles in England, Spain, and Italy, and rewritten the record books. That part of the story, in Sheringham’s eyes, is over.
“Can I see Cristiano Ronaldo coming back to Real Madrid to play under Jose Mourinho again? Definitely not. He will not be coming back to Europe,” he insisted.
Romantics might dream of one last run at the Bernabéu or Old Trafford, but modern European football is a cold equation of finances, tactics, and squad planning. For a 40-something global icon on a colossal salary, the door looks firmly shut.
If there is to be another move, Sheringham sees it heading west rather than back to Europe. The United States looms as the obvious final frontier.
“He might go to America though if he wants to experience something else,” Sheringham added. “You could see that, and he’d certainly light MLS up like no one else can. Maybe it will all come down to what he wants to do once he finally does retire.”
A Ronaldo–Lionel Messi double act in MLS would be a marketer’s dream and a seismic jolt for the sport in North America. For now, though, his gaze remains fixed on the Saudi Pro League and the international stage. Portugal begin their 2026 World Cup campaign on Wednesday against DR Congo in Group K, with Ronaldo still at the heart of everything.
Once, the idea of a 50-year-old Ronaldo was a joke for social media. When a veteran like Sheringham says it out loud and barely raises an eyebrow, it starts to sound less like fantasy and more like the next barrier waiting to be broken.
