Cristiano Ronaldo scores 900th career goal: The numbers behind Portugal striker’s milestone

Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo reached yet one more footballing milestone on 5 September as he scored the 900th purpose of one of the vital outstanding careers in sport.

The 39-year-old scored the eventual winner in Portugal’s 2-1 victory over Croatia, arriving within the field to show in Nuno Mendes’s cross in a trend followers have turn into accustomed to seeing for the reason that striker’s time in Madrid.

The purpose prompted an emotional response from Ronaldo, who fell to the ground in tears throughout his celebration. Final month, the Portugal man had informed former teammate Rio Ferdinand that his profession purpose was to get to 1,000 objectives.

And the previous Sporting, Manchester United, Actual Madrid and Juventus striker is now simply 100 objectives away from that concentrate on, with 131 objectives for his nation and 769 at membership degree over the course of 1,236 video games.

However what are the opposite numbers behind this outstanding goalscoring file, and the way shut is he to being the best scorer within the sport’s historical past?

A profession marked by spectacular longevity

Ronaldo’s first purpose got here in 2002, when the 17-year-old struck twice in a 3-0 Sporting win. He solely scored 5 objectives in complete for the Lisbon-based membership, along with his closing purpose coming in December 2002 earlier than he moved to Manchester United for the 2003/04 season.

Ronaldo’s begin at United confirmed loads of promise alongside a dose of frustration, because the tough winger was perhaps responsible of 1 talent too many from time to time, and he needed to wait till 1 November 2003 for his first purpose for the membership, towards Portsmouth in a 3-0 win. The streak of 27 video games with out scoring – between December 2002 and November 2003 – is thus far the longest such streak of his profession.

The winger greater than delivered on his promise throughout his time at United, scoring 118 objectives throughout 293 matches in his first stint on the membership. Highlights included outstanding efforts towards Fulham in 2006/07, Portsmouth in 2007/08, Porto and Arsenal in 2008/09 and a towering header within the 2008 Champions League closing – he’s now the highest scorer in match historical past, with 140 objectives.

In the summertime of 2009, Ronaldo joined Actual Madrid for a then world file of about £80m, and thus started essentially the most prolific goalscoring interval of his profession.

The Portuguese averaged greater than a purpose per sport for Los Blancos, scoring 450 objectives in 438 video games as he received two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey trophies and 4 Champions Leagues. His highest-scoring season got here in 2011/12, when he scored 69 objectives in 69 matches for membership and nation.

In 2018, Ronaldo moved to Juventus, the place he scored 101 objectives over three seasons earlier than re-joining United in 2021. His second spell with the membership was much less fruitful, and he scored 27 objectives in 54 video games earlier than transferring to Al -Nassr – he’s at the moment on 68 objectives for the Saudi membership.

How does Ronaldo rating his objectives?

The 39-year-old’s purpose catalogue is spectacular not simply as a result of tally and frequency, however as a result of varieties of purpose he’s able to scoring. From three-yard tap-ins along with his thigh to 45-yard screamers and dazzling, dipping free-kicks, the Portuguese actually was able to doing all of it.

Unsurprisingly, 574 of his objectives have come along with his favoured proper foot, with 173 coming along with his left, one from his thigh and one even from his elbow. As well as, he has scored 151 headers, in response to The Athletic.

Ronaldo has scored 164 penalties and 63 free-kicks, with these set items counting for 63 of his 131 objectives from exterior of the field. He has scored an additional 605 objectives from contained in the penalty space.

Throughout his time at Actual Madrid, the Portuguese was hailed for scoring a variety of essential objectives, and his stats again up that sentiment – he has scored 211 objectives between the 76th minute and the ultimate whistle. As well as, he has scored 23 objectives in match finals.

Ronaldo has scored 66 hat-tricks over the course of his profession – 10 of those have been so-called ‘excellent’ hat-tricks, with one purpose scored with a header, one with the left foot and one with the appropriate foot. He has scored 4 objectives in a single sport on 9 events, and 5 objectives in the identical match twice.

He has scored 437 objectives over the course of his thirties, and scored 440 in his twenties!

Is Ronaldo the sport’s all-time prime scorer?

It’s troublesome to ascertain for sure whether or not Ronaldo is the sport’s prime scorer, with Pele and Romario each having claimed to attain over 1,000 objectives.

Nevertheless, in case you had been to filter out the pleasant matches and different unofficial video games that the Brazilian duo performed, their tallies are estimated at 778 and 775 objectives respectively, reviews the BBC.

Different gamers who might maintain the file embody German Erwin Helmchen, who claimed to have scored 989 objectives, and Josef Bican, who is alleged to have scored round 950. Once more, many of those got here in regional leagues and unofficial tournaments, so there may be debate round whether or not they need to be recorded.

What’s sure is that Ronaldo turned the primary participant to achieve 800 top-level objectives when he scored a second purpose towards Arsenal in a 3-2 win in December 2021. His long-time rival, Lionel Messi, at the moment sits on 867 profession objectives.

Can he rating 1,000?

Ronaldo turns 40 in February, and given his present scoring charge at Al-Nassr, he might be on observe to achieve 1,000 objectives if he performs till he’s not less than 41.

He scored 57 objectives for membership and nation in 2023/24, with 50 coming for Al-Nassr, so on the present charge he might attain 1,000 objectives by the tip of the 2025/26 season.