Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr debut vs PSG: How many ticket requests were made? | OneFootball

Football fans are going to have to wait a little bit longer for Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Saudi Arabia debut.

The Real Madrid and Manchester United icon was officially unveiled by Al-Nassr on January 3rd after penning a lucrative £175 million-per-year contract.

But due to the fact Ronaldo is serving a two-match by imposed by the English FA, he can’t make his first appearance until January 19th.

The suspension being served stems from an incident after United’s defeat away at Everton last season, where Ronaldo knocked a phone out of a young supporter’s hand.

So that’s why there’s been a delay, although the aforementioned ban means Ronaldo’s first appearance since moving to Saudi Arabia will come against none other than Paris Saint-Germain.

Which means we stand a good chance of seeing Ronaldo versus Lionel Messi one more time.

The Portuguese superstar is set to be part of a combined team made up of players from Al-Nassr and current Saudi champions, Al-Hilal.

The crazy number of ticket requests made for Ronaldo vs Messi

Given that the exhibition game may very well pit Ronaldo against Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, a rather insane number of ticket requests were made.

Per a report by ESPN, over TWO MILLION people tried to secure a place at the 68,000 seater King Fahd Stadium in Saudi capital, Riyadh, on January 19th.

That’s just bonkers, isn’t it? But it’s what happens when both Ronaldo and Messi’s pulling power can be used.

Sources close to ESPN stated that the tickets sold out “within minutes” after first going on sale earlier in the week.

When will Ronaldo make his full Al-Nassr debut?

So, barring a surprise injury in training with Al-Nassr, we know when we’ll first see Ronaldo in a football match since the conclusion of the 2022 World Cup.

But what about his full debut for new club Al-Nassr?

That’s set to come just three days after Ronaldo and Messi potentially lock horns for perhaps one final time in the Saudi capital.

Al-Nassr play Al-Ettifaq at Mrsool Park in the league on January 22nd, which is where we should get a first glimpse of Ronaldo in his new team’s suave yellow and blue jersey.