Cristiano Ronaldo opted out of FIFA Club World Cup opportunity

The forward had offers from many clubs playing in the Club World Cup.

Cristiano Ronaldo turned down the opportunity to play in this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup 2025 in order to get ready for the next season. This is despite River Plate coach Marcelo Gallardo’s best efforts to bring the Portugal international to the event.

Ronaldo openly declared he would not make a move to any club to play in the Club World Cup, even though he had received offers to do so, following weeks of rumours about a potential transfer.

The president of Wydad Casablanca has acknowledged that he made one of those suggestions. Now, even Gallardo has acknowledged that he attempted to sign Cristiano Ronaldo for the Club World Cup.

River Plate head coach reveals they wanted to sign Ronaldo ahead of the competition

Gallardo told ESPN:

“In mid-March, informally, through a mutual friend, I said to [Ronaldo], ‘Hey, I have a Club World Cup coming up and for a player like you, who marked an era…don’t you intend to play in it?’”

“Not only did he feel recognized, but he evaluated it, thought about it, but then replied, ’I have to prepare for next season.’”

When asked why he made the offer, Gallardo continued:

“If he bit, he bit. And look how informal the contact was, he made it his business to make it public, because otherwise this would never have been known, like many things that aren’t known and other things that are said and are lies.”

“He made it his business to say it and he didn’t even mention the club. He said, ‘They invited me from Argentina.’”

A potential transfer within Saudi Arabia was one of the rumours circulating around Ronaldo. The CEO of domestic rivals Al Hilal recently stated that there was no substance to rumours that the Al Nassr player would join them either permanently or on loan.

However, now the Portuguese is on the verge of signing a new deal with Al-Nassr that will keep him at the club until 2027. This will surely keep him in touch with the game, and help him feature at the FIFA World Cup 2026.

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