On 18 September 2026, Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, the Brazilian striker known as Ronaldo or “O Fenômeno”, turns 50. This is not Cristiano Ronaldo: it is the footballer born in 1976, twice a World Cup winner with Brazil and twice Ballon d’Or winner.

He began at Cruzeiro, moved to PSV Eindhoven, then scored spectacularly at FC Barcelona, where he won the Cup Winners’ Cup. The transfer to Inter Milan coincided with his first Ballon d’Or, in 1997. Serious knee injuries kept him off the pitch for long spells; his return became one of the central stories of the career.

At the 2002 World Cup he scored eight goals, including both in Brazil’s final win over Germany. He had also been in the 1994 championship squad without playing. A second Ballon d’Or followed in 2002. Real Madrid came next, then AC Milan and a playing career that ended at Corinthians.

FIFA records credit him with 62 goals in 98 appearances for the national team. His honours also include continental trophies with Brazil. The model of an explosive striker, able to change direction at speed and finish with either foot, influenced later generations.

Club and international figures are a matter of public record; this article invents no quotations. The cover photograph is from an event after his retirement, not from a 2002 match.

At 50, Ronaldo Nazário remains a marker of late-twentieth- and early-twenty-first-century football, distinct from the Portuguese namesake who dominated another decade.

Image: Web Summit, Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Not a 2002 match photograph. Cropped to 16:9. Licence. Original file.

Sources consulted: FIFA — Ronaldo’s road to winning a second FIFA World Cup; Real Madrid — Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima.