Teddy Sheringham on Cristiano Ronaldo's Longevity and Future
Teddy Sheringham has seen elite longevity up close. He played at the top level into his 40s, scored in a Champions League final at 35, and stretched a career that most strikers would envy. Even he, though, sounds almost in awe when he talks about Cristiano Ronaldo.
The former England forward believes Ronaldo is built to play until 50.
Speaking to BOYLE Sports, Sheringham didn’t flinch when asked how long the Al-Nassr star can keep going.
“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.”
That last line is where Sheringham’s own experience bleeds through. He knows the grind. The stiffness in the morning. The mental battle just to lace up the boots again. Ronaldo, though, has turned that daily fight into a way of life.
His dedication has become football folklore. Restrictive diets. Cryotherapy. Tailored conditioning. A relentless training schedule that would break most professionals in their prime, let alone in their late 30s and early 40s. While the majority of players are done by their mid-30s, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner is still leading the line, still scoring, and now preparing to carry Portugal into the 2026 World Cup in North America.
Sheringham sees no sign of the obsession dimming.
“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, but if you’re still scoring goals and people still want you to play, then why not keep going,” he said. “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 Saudi Pro League suits this late chapter. The spotlight is intense, but the pace and depth of competition are not what he once faced weekly in the Champions League. Ronaldo, though, remains a global reference point. Every goal is clipped, shared, debated. Every celebration still feels like an event.
Yet for all his belief in Ronaldo’s staying power, Sheringham draws a hard line when it comes to a European return. The romance of one last run at the Bernabéu under Jose Mourinho is easy to sell. Sheringham is having none of it.
“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.
It’s a blunt assessment but a realistic one. Ronaldo has already conquered Europe: league titles in England, Spain and Italy, Champions League nights that defined an era, goal records that may stand for decades. The modern European game, with its tactical demands, wage structures and long-term planning, is no longer built for a 40-something superstar as its centrepiece, no matter how legendary.
If there is to be one last move, Sheringham sees it heading west, not back home.
“He might go to America though if he wants to experience something else,” he 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.”
The prospect of Ronaldo joining Lionel Messi in MLS would send shockwaves through North American sport. Two of the defining figures of modern football, closing their careers on the same continent, would turn every stadium visit into a travelling circus of nostalgia and star power. Sheringham is convinced Ronaldo would dominate there too.
For now, the stage is Saudi Arabia and the international arena. Ronaldo remains the face of the Saudi Pro League and the figurehead of a Portugal side that begins its 2026 World Cup campaign on Wednesday against DR Congo in Group K. The stakes are familiar: goals, glory, and another chance to stretch a career that has already bent the limits of what seemed possible.
Once, the idea of a 50-year-old outfield player operating at professional level would have been dismissed as fantasy. With Ronaldo, Sheringham is no longer ruling it out. The only real question left is not whether his body can cope, but how long his hunger will let him stop.
