Cristiano Ronaldo is father of twins: Real Madrid superstar announces birth via surrogate mother

Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has been released from the Portugal squad after confirming he has become the father of twins.

The Real Madrid forward announced on Facebook that he was “very happy, finally” to meet his newborn babies for the first time, just hours after Portugal were knocked out of the Confederation Cup.

The 32-year-old has been given permission to miss the third-place playoff in the tournament to return home to his children.

He posted a picture of his newborn babies on Twitter on Thursday evening alongside the caption: "So happy to be able to hold the two new loves of my life."

Writing in Portuguese, Ronaldo said on Facebook: “I was in the service of the national team, as always, body and soul, even though my two sons were born.

“Unfortunately, we have not been able to achieve the main sporting objective that we wanted, but I am sure we will continue to give joy to the Portuguese.

“The President of the Portuguese Football Federation and the national picker have today had an attitude that has touched me and I will not forget.

“I'm very happy to finally be with my children for the first time.”

A statement from the Portuguese national side said: “The president of the Portuguese Football Association and the manager were informed before the Confederations Cup that the national captain Cristiano Ronaldo had become a father.

“The President of the Portuguese Football Association and the manager understand that, having failed to win the Confederations Cup, we had to release the player so that he could finally go and meet his children.”

Little is known about Ronaldo’s newborn twins, with Portugese media reporting they were born in early June, before the international tournament began.

He is currently dating model Georgina Rodríguez, though the twins were born via a surrogate mother. He already has one son, Cristiano Ronaldo Jnr.

Portugal were knocked out of the Confederations Cup by Chile on penalties on Wednesday.