Ronaldo says son will outsize him, stresses mindset

Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has predicted his eldest son will grow to be bigger than him, while emphasizing that physical attributes alone will not determine the teenager's success in the sport. The comments came during a recent training session for the Al Nassr youth team, which was filmed for Netflix Sports and shared publicly on Thursday, August 6, 2026.

The 41-year-old Portuguese forward watched his 16-year-old son, Cristiano Ronaldo Jr., train with the Al Nassr academy. Speaking about his son's development, Ronaldo noted the teenager's physical advantages compared to his own youth. "When I was his age, he is a little bit bigger and stronger. I was smaller. I think he will be bigger than me," Ronaldo said. He described his son as a "good kid" and joked that his younger children at home are tougher.

However, Ronaldo stressed that innate talent and physical gifts are secondary to mentality for achieving success at the highest level. When asked about his son's drive, Ronaldo identified "hunger" as the most difficult and essential quality to maintain. He suggested that having access to top facilities from a young age can lead to complacency without the requisite internal...