Cristiano Ronaldo football shirts
Few players are as closely tied to one shirt number as Cristiano Ronaldo is to the 7. But he did not start with it, it was not his choice when he got it, and for one season at Real Madrid he could not have it at all. This is his career told through the shirts he wore.
Ronaldo’s shirts at a glance
| Team | Years | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Sporting CP | 2002–2003 | 28 |
| Manchester United | 2003–2009 | 7 |
| Real Madrid | 2009–2010 | 9 |
| Real Madrid | 2010–2018 | 7 |
| Juventus | 2018–2021 | 7 |
| Manchester United | 2021–2022 | 7 |
| Al Nassr | 2023– | 7 |
| Portugal | 2003–2006 | 17 |
| Portugal | 2006–2026 | 7 |
Sporting CP: the 28
Ronaldo came through Sporting’s academy in Lisbon and broke into the first team in the 2002–03 season wearing 28. It is the shirt that introduced him to English football: Manchester United played Sporting in a pre-season friendly in August 2003, and the teenager in the green and white hoops gave United’s defenders such a difficult evening that the club signed him days later.
Manchester United: a 7 he did not ask for
At United Ronaldo reportedly asked to keep 28. Sir Alex Ferguson gave him 7 instead, the number previously worn at the club by George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona and David Beckham. It was a heavy shirt for an 18-year-old winger.
His United shirts were made by Nike, first with the Vodafone sponsor and from 2006 with AIG. The AIG-era shirts cover his best seasons at the club: three consecutive Premier League titles from 2007 to 2009 and the 2008 Champions League, won in Moscow. A red 2007–08 home shirt with 7 RONALDO on the back is one of the defining English player shirts of the period.
Real Madrid: the 9, then the 7
When Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2009 the 7 belonged to Raúl, the club captain and one of its greatest players. Ronaldo wore 9 for his first season, which makes a 2009–10 Madrid shirt with 9 RONALDO a distinctive item. Raúl left in 2010 and Ronaldo took the 7 from the 2010–11 season.
His Madrid shirts were made by adidas, with the bwin sponsor in his early seasons and Fly Emirates from 2013. Over nine seasons he won four Champions Leagues with the club, and Madrid’s all-white home shirt became the one most associated with him at his peak.
Juventus: the 7 in black and white
Ronaldo moved to Juventus in 2018 and kept the 7. His three seasons in Turin added the club’s black and white stripes, made by adidas with Jeep as the sponsor, to the set of shirts collectors associate with him.
Manchester United again
When he returned to Old Trafford in 2021, Edinson Cavani switched numbers so that Ronaldo could wear 7 again. By then United’s shirts were made by adidas with TeamViewer as the sponsor, so his two United spells look quite different on the shirt. He left the club in November 2022.
Al Nassr
Ronaldo joined Saudi club Al Nassr in January 2023, again wearing 7, in the club’s yellow and blue. His arrival made Al Nassr shirts sought after well beyond Saudi Arabia. He signed a contract extension with the club in 2025.
Portugal: from 17 to 7
Ronaldo made his senior Portugal debut in August 2003. At the time the 7 belonged to Luís Figo, so Ronaldo wore 17, including at Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup. He took the 7 after Figo stepped away from international football and wore it for two decades, most famously as captain when Portugal won Euro 2016 in France. In October 2026, after Ronaldo left the national team camp, Rafael Leão took over Portugal’s 7.
Portugal’s shirts have been made by Nike throughout his international career, typically in deep red and green at home. His run of tournaments means there is a Ronaldo Portugal shirt for almost every major tournament from 2004 onwards.
How the 7 became CR7
By the time he left United in 2009 the number and the player had started to merge. “CR7” became his personal brand, used on his own clothing and fragrance lines, and the 7 now reads as his wherever he plays. That is unusual: most famous numbers belong to a club’s history first and a player second. With Ronaldo, the number followed him.
Ronaldo and the Mercurial
The other constant in Ronaldo’s kit has been Nike’s Mercurial boots, often in special colourways made for him. If you want to know which boots he wears now and how they have changed, FootballBoots.co.uk keeps an up-to-date guide to his CR7 boots.