Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal’s most internationally recognized football star, and his longtime partner Georgina Rodríguez were married Tuesday in Cascais, Portugal, in an intimate civil ceremony after nearly a decade together.

Born and raised in Funchal, on the island of Madeira, Ronaldo chose the Portuguese mainland for the private civil ceremony. Earlier speculation had suggested that the couple would marry in Ronaldo’s native Madeira, where rumors of a wedding at Funchal Cathedral attracted considerable attention.

The wedding took place exactly one year after Rodríguez announced their engagement on August 11, 2025. Ronaldo, 41, and Rodríguez, 32, met in Madrid in 2016 when Rodríguez was working at a Gucci store. They confirmed their marriage with a public declaration by sharing an image featuring their wedding bands.

The couple is raising five children: Cristiano Ronaldo Jr., twins Eva and Mateo, and daughters Alana Martina and Bella Esmeralda. Ronaldo and Rodríguez also endured profound personal tragedy in 2022 when Bella’s twin brother, Ángel, died during childbirth.

The decision to hold the civil marriage quietly in mainland Portugal contrasts with months of speculation that the couple was preparing an elaborate religious celebrity wedding in Madeira. The Cascais ceremony was intimate, with the couple’s children present, deliberately small and private rather than the large celebrity wedding many had anticipated. 

Cristiano Ronaldo was baptized and raised Catholic, and he has often spoken about the importance of faith and family in his life. Georgina Rodríguez was also raised in a Christian family in northern Spain. A Catholic wedding in the cathedral in Funchal, where Ronaldo’s family has deep roots, would have been a fitting choice. However, neither the Diocese of Funchal nor the couple has officially confirmed that a Catholic marriage rite is scheduled for the near future.

PAJ/Staff