A history of Cristiano Ronaldo's Nike Mercurial series love affair

In the earliest days of his career, Ronaldo wore the Mercurial Vapor 1. The boots appear in some of the most pivotal moments in his young career, including a bright orange pair worn during his first matches for Sporting Lisbon. It was a 'Chrome' colourway, however, that helped change the course of his life and football history. The Mercurial Vapor Chrome was on Ronaldo’s feet during the famous friendly against Manchester United in which Sir Alex Ferguson was convinced of his ability and made the decision to sign him.

Ronaldo stuck with the 'Chrome' colourway through his beginnings in the Premier League – including when he scored Manchester United’s 1000th goal in the league – but by his second season he’d swapped silver for gold. The new colorway of the boot came from the R9 series, named after the other Ronaldo, but was worn by CR7 during Portugal’s Euro 2004 on home soil (they came second, losing to Greece) and Manchester United’s journey to the FA Cup, beating Millwall in the final.

The Nike Mercurial Vapor III is widely considered one of the Swoosh’s best-ever boots, and played an important role in Ronaldo’s evolution. In 2006-07 – his second season wearing the Mercurial Vapor III – Ronaldo finally secured his first Premier League trophy, almost doubling his goalscoring tally in the process. Over the next few years, Ronaldo would wear a variety of colourways – 'Platinum', 'Argon Blue' and 'Sport Red' all made an appearance – as Manchester United dominated the Premier League.

You’re probably noticing a trend now. Ronaldo continued to wear the Mercurial Vapor line in 2008, launching the IV edition in a bright 'Orange Peel' colourway shortly before banging in his first Manchester United hat trick (at home to Newcastle, if you’re wondering). The Mercurial Vapor IV stayed on Ronaldo’s feet through a couple of iterations, as the orange was replaced by 'Sport Red', 'Pine Green', 'Marina/Volt' and 'Citron'. Ronaldo did briefly deviate from the line, wearing the special-edition Mercurial SL as he scored in normal time and the penalty shoot out of Manchester United’s Champions League victory.

The Mercurial Vapor line entered a new era with the launch of the Superfly, and Ronaldo was again at the front and centre of its release. Wearing a 'Max Orange' pair during the later rounds of the 2008-09 Champions League, Ronaldo also sported the Superfly in black as he was unveiled as a Real Madrid player. Eventually, Ronaldo switched the colourway to 'Orion Blue' as he scored 33 in 35 during his first Real Madrid season.

Once again, Ronaldo updated his Mercurial Vaporfly boots with the latest and greatest from Nike. Launching the Vapor Superfly II, Ronaldo initially wore a 'Vaporfly Pop' colourway in 2010, before heading to the 2010 World Cup in an 'Elite' pair specially designed for South African pitches. Returning from South Africa, Ronaldo dressed the boots in 'Cactus' and 'Cherry' before the arrival of his first signature boot: the Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly II CR 'Safari' in late 2010.

The 2010s were the era of Ronaldo’s signature boots, and he followed up the CR 'Safari' with the Mercurial Vapor Superfly III 'Safari Black' less than six months later. Ronaldo’s second signature boot was worn as Real Madrid won Copa Del Rey in 2011. While the season was relatively short of silverware, it was the first time that Ronaldo had broken the 50 goal barrier, slotting 53 in 54. Ronaldo stuck to the Mercurial Vapor Superfly III for much of the next season, dressing it in an eye-catching pinstripe design.

The Superfly line took a hiatus in 2012, and Ronaldo began wearing the Mercurial Vapor VIII silhouette. In April of that year, Ronaldo scored his 40th goal of the season, hitting the milestone for the second consecutive year, while wearing a bright orange colourway. He finished that season with 60 goals as he won his first La Liga title at Real Madrid. The Mercurial Vapor VIII also appeared in a white and blue colourway, before a black, pink and blue design was used for his next signature release at the start of the 2012-13 season.

In early 2013, Ronaldo wore the Nike Mercurial Vapor IX CR SE, arriving in a white and orange colourway and finished with details inspired by the successes of the year before. Ronaldo kept wearing the Mercurial Vapor IX – including a 'Rainbow Jersey'-inspired pair – for the rest of the 2012-13 season and into the next year. A Supernova-covered pair arrived in November 2013 as he scored his 100th away goal in 106 games, before a white, gold and black limited-edition pair launched to mark Ronaldo’s second Ballon d’Or victory.

Ronaldo returned to the Superfly line in 2014, wearing the FlyKnit boots during the 2014 World Cup. In late 2014, Ronaldo became the quickest La Liga player to score 200 goals in the league, while wearing a black and pair of the Superfly IV, before he donned a black and gold pair early the next year to celebrate two Ballon d’Or wins in two years. Ronaldo stayed true to the Superfly IV with more special-edition releases, including a 'Silverware' pair in 2015 as he broke more scoring records, the '324k' pair as he became Real Madrid’s records scorer (324 in 311) and the first two chapters of his seven-part Nike collaboration.

After launching the 'Natural Diamond' chapter of the Superfly IV, Ronaldo signed a new long term deal with Nike – the announcement referenced the 60 boots he’d worn in 13 years – and launched his first signature Superfly V. He officially launched the boot in the Champions League final, scoring the winning penalty, before he returned to it during that summer’s Euro 2016. Ronaldo was injured early in the game and animatedly watched from the sidelines as Portugal beat hosts France and he won his first international honour. The Mercurial V also hosted chapter three of his collaboration, the 'Discovery' design inspired by his move to Manchester United.

By this point, Ronaldo and the Mercurial line were inseparable and the player moved beyond the normal 'generations' of boot. Instead, each one was named the Mercurial Superfly CR7, beginning with the white and gold Vitorias, which was dedicated to winning the Ballon d’Or, Champions League and Euro 2016 in one year. Future CR7 releases continued his chapter-themed releases ('Chapter 4: Forged for Greatness' and 'Chapter 5: Cut to Brilliance') as well as marking major achievements. Throughout the second half of 2017, Nike debuted the Portugal-themed Campeoes, the Melhor – taken from the Portuguese for 'best' – and the Quinto Triunfo to mark his fifth Ballon d’Or.

Ronaldo was part of the launch for the Mercurial Superfly 360 in early 2018, describing the new design as “the best boots ever,” before adding that “they fit straight away, the material, the design, the new technology, it’s amazing.” A month after the boot arrived in its original bright orange colourway, it became chapter six of his ongoing series. Dubbed “Born Leader,” the new release arrived in a blue and gold colourway and was dedicated to Ronaldo’s captaincy of Portugal, including breaking the record for most captaincies of his country.

After leaving Real Madrid and setting up his stall at Juventus, Ronaldo immediately went on to win the Serie A, scoring 21 league goals on the way. As with every other achievement in his career, Nike launched a boot to celebrate the occasion and made sure that anyone who saw it would not misunderstand who it was for. The black and white of Juventus was reinterpreted into a black base and absolutely massive white text saying 'CRISTIANO'. His Serie A victory was also referenced through the gold detailing, including little '7' logos and a full soleplate.

2020 was a full decade since Ronaldo had launched his first signature boot with Nike. Marking such a momentous milestone – and the never ending stream of special releases – Nike revived the original 'Safari' design for one last dance. In most respects, the new design replicated the pattern and bright orange detailing of the original release onto the Mercurial Superfly CR7 silhouette. Further strengthening ties with Ronaldo, however, it also included his celebration, signature and logo.

For the delayed Euro 2020, Cristiano continued to stick to the Mercurial Superfly CR7. The new design was dubbed 'Spark Positivity', and featured an eye-catching colourway that mixed 'Chile Red' with hits of black, white and total orange. The boot took its name from Ronaldo’s relentless pursuit of greatness, which has inspired his fans around the world. It was also his 30th signature mercurial in just 11 years, and pointed to even more releases alongside the Swoosh.