Cristiano Ronaldo becomes oldest player to score a brace at the World Cup, but crypto markets shrug
The 41-year-old netted twice against Uzbekistan to make World Cup history, though his Binance NFT partnership and unofficial CR7 meme tokens saw little meaningful market reaction
Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals against Uzbekistan at the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the age of 41 years and 138 days. That makes him the oldest player in tournament history to register a brace.
The brace against Uzbekistan came during the group stage of the 2026 World Cup. Earlier in the competition, at 41 years and 132 days, he became the oldest outfield player to start a World Cup match.
Where crypto fits into the Ronaldo empire
His primary engagement with the digital asset space comes through a partnership with Binance. Together, they’ve launched multiple CR7-branded NFT collections. These are officially endorsed products tied directly to his brand and image rights.
What Ronaldo doesn’t have, notably, is an official fan token. That puts him in a different category from national teams like Argentina, which has its own $ARG token.
What has emerged is a constellation of unofficial meme tokens that reference “CR7” or Ronaldo’s name in various ways. These tokens have zero endorsement from Ronaldo himself and no connection to his Binance partnership.
Why the market didn’t flinch
Despite the historic nature of Ronaldo’s achievement, the crypto market response was effectively a collective shrug. The ongoing 2026 tournament has not prompted any new major token launches or notable protocol integrations tied to Ronaldo’s performance.
The Binance NFT collections are designed for fan engagement rather than price appreciation. Their value proposition is “own a piece of CR7 memorabilia,” not “profit from his next hat trick.”