Cristiano Ronaldo scores 900th goal: The stats behind Portugal great's latest landmark

By Sports Desk September 05, 2024

Another match, another landmark for Cristiano Ronaldo.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner insisted he still has more to offer at the international level this week, and he brought up 900 career goals by netting in Portugal's Nations League Nations League opener versus Croatia.

It was a typical poacher's finish that brought up Ronaldo's latest landmark, the forward beating his marker to Nuno Mendes' left-wing cross to sidefoot home and put Portugal 2-0 up inside the first half.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Ronaldo will now surely be targeting the big 1,000, though Pele's FIFA-recognised figure of 1,281 goals will surely prove beyond the 39-year-old.

As Ronaldo plots a route to four figures, we dive into the Opta data to look at how he reached his current total, highlighting the most interesting facts and figures.

Ronaldo's 900th career goal was also his 131st in 213 appearances for Portugal, with both of those figures being all-time records both for the Selecao and for any male player on the international stage.

The ultimate goal poacher, he has scored 109 of those from inside the penalty area, though only 20 have come from the penalty spot – he memorably missed his last spot-kick for the Selecao, versus Slovenia in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals.

Ronaldo struggled at this year's tournament in Germany, where he had 23 shots but failed to find the net – the first time he has not scored at a major international competition. Only fellow Portugal great Deco has ever had more efforts at a single edition of the Euros without scoring, firing off 24 shots without success at the 2004 tournament.

 

However, Ronaldo does boast 22 goals at the World Cup/Euros for Portugal overall, winning the Golden Boot with five strikes at Euro 2020, five years on from captaining the Selecao to their maiden trophy. Only two of those, though, have come in knockout matches – versus the Netherlands at Euro 2004 and Wales at Euro 2016.

Still, Ronaldo's international legacy speaks for itself, and his achievements on the club stage are even more impressive.

Ronaldo scored five times for boyhood club Sporting CP before leaving for Manchester United, for whom he plundered 145 goals across two separate spells.

He has broken three figures with all but two of his clubs, netting 101 times for Juventus and being well on the way to doing so with Al-Nassr, for whom he has 68 goals. 

It was at Real Madrid, however, where Ronaldo earned his goal machine tag, scoring exactly half his career goals (450) for Los Blancos and helping them win the Champions League four times.

He is the leading goalscorer in Madrid's illustrious history, some 96 clear of former team-mate Karim Benzema (354), who represented the club 648 times, compared to Ronaldo's 438 appearances.

 

Overall, Ronaldo has scored 573 of his goals with his favoured right foot, with 173 coming via his left and almost as many – 152 – coming via headers, with his aerial prowess becoming increasingly notable throughout his career.  

What about dead balls? Ronaldo has converted 164 penalties for club and country, including a spot-kick in the 2014 Champions League final versus Atletico Madrid.

Ronaldo's free-kick taking has been an area targeted by those looking to do down on his achievements at times, but he has scored 64 direct free-kick goals throughout his career, the latest coming in a 4-1 win over Al-Fayha in the Saudi Pro League before the turn of the month.

Where, then, do Ronaldo's achievements rank versus those of his peers? Drum roll please... Ronaldo is currently some 62 goals ahead of his great rival Lionel Messi, who has 838 career strikes for Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Miami and Argentina.  

With Ronaldo firing on all cylinders in Saudi Arabia and looking unlikely to give up the ghost at international level any time soon, few would bet against him extending that advantage before the two greats hang up their boots.

 

Related items

  • Scotland must improve on 'little details' – McTominay Scotland must improve on 'little details' – McTominay

    Scotland are falling short in big matches due to the finer details, said Scott McTominay after a "self-inflicted" defeat to Poland.

    McTominay scored a 76th-minute equaliser at Hampden Park on Thursday, as Scotland looked all set to take a 2-2 draw from their Nations League opener.

    Yet deep in stoppage time, Nicola Zalewski put away Poland's second penalty of the night to condemn Steve Clarke's team to defeat.

    Scotland, who crashed out of Euro 2024 with a whimper, are now winless in their last five home games, their longest such run in 16 years.

    "It's a difficult one to be honest," McTominay, who has now scored nine in his last 16 appearances for Scotland, told ITV Sport.

    "I thought we were good in the game, I felt like at half-time when we were 2-0 down it was unjustified. That's football, it's cruel at times.

    "We had a lot of box entries from our sides. It's disappointing but we showed great character to get back into the game and we can take belief from that. We really came back well and didn't give up.

    "The goals are self-inflicted from the collective, we all know that. It's those little details that are making us fall short in bigger games. We can go back and look at little tweaks to hopefully improve.

    "Every single game of football has mistakes and sometimes you get punished and sometimes you don't. It's something we as a group need to take ownership of.

    "You can't do anything but do your best on the pitch and hopefully score the next goal and against Portugal [on Sunday] we can be the ones who come out winning."

    Scotland went 2-0 down in the first half, with Robert Lewandowski teeing up Sebastian Szymanski's early opener before netting from the penalty spot.

    Lewandowski has been involved in 10 goals in his last 10 starts for Poland (six goals, four assists), while the Barcelona forward has scored each of his last four penalties since failing to do so against Mexico at the 2022 World Cup.

    Poland, meanwhile, converted two spot-kicks in a game for the first time since June 2017 in a World Cup qualifier against Romania. Though with Lewandowski off the pitch late on, the responsibility for the second fell to Zalewski.

    Billy Gilmour, who, like McTominay, joined Napoli last week, got Scotland back into it just after half-time, though the comeback efforts ultimately proved fruitless.

    "We're disappointed. We felt we were the better team," the midfielder said. "In the second half we felt we showed that and went for it.

    "Getting two goals back and then to concede another penalty was tough. We'll go back and look at it and make it right.

    "There was good stuff there as well, but ultimately the final result wasn't good.

    "It's a tough one, we really felt like we should have got the win. We leave it out there all the time, we're a group of boys proud to represent our country."

  • Ronaldo on 900th career goal: 'Records haunt me' Ronaldo on 900th career goal: 'Records haunt me'

    Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his 900th career goal, but the Portugal captain claimed he is "haunted" by records.

    Ronaldo scored his landmark goal in the 34th minute of Thursday's Nations League contest between Portugal and Croatia in Lisbon.

    The 39-year-old's close-range finish, his 131st goal for Portugal, was enough to secure a 2-1 win for Roberto Martinez's team, who went ahead through Diogo Dalot, although the full-back then scored an own goal that dragged Croatia back into proceedings.

    Ronaldo was taken off late on to a standing ovation, and speaking to Portuguese media, he said: "It was an exciting goal for me. It's a round number.

    "Only I know how hard it is to work every day to score your 900th goal.

    "It's a unique milestone in my career. I don't break records… they haunt me!"

    Ronaldo let the emotions out after scoring, and seemed to be in tears of joy while celebrating.

    "As you know, I'm already 39 and a half years old and so you have to be very focused for things to go well," he explained. "To be at this level requires a lot of dedication.

    "So, when these little records happen, small, big, I get emotional because I know and value what I do, and my teammates, because obviously without my team-mates this would be unthinkable."

    Ronaldo endured a difficult Euro 2024 campaign, failing to score from 24 shots, including a penalty that was saved by Jan Oblak.

    Portugal eventually crashed out to France on penalties, and Ronaldo stressed the importance of getting off to a good start, and complimented Martinez's change in approach.

    "After what happened in the European Championship, we had to give a good response and that's what happened," he said.

    "We played well. Croatia fought really well and I think it was a spectacular game.

    "I felt freer than usual in this game. The coach also gave me that opportunity and we also played, in my opinion, a little differently to how we played in the European Championship.

    "We made a lot of changes, the players were freer on the pitch and when that happens, it's better for me, I'll be honest.

    "I feel better, I feel more involved in the game and I can enjoy football more. It's not that I didn't enjoy it at the Euros, but I like being a free player, I like to make space for my team-mates too and today was a performance that the team performed very well."

  • Madrid defender Militao leaves Brazil camp due to injury Madrid defender Militao leaves Brazil camp due to injury

    Real Madrid centre-back Eder Militao has left Brazil's training camp ahead of World Cup qualifiers versus Ecuador and Paraguay due to a leg injury.

    Brazil have made a dismal start to their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign and sit sixth in the 10-team CONMEBOL group after six games, with two wins, one draw and three defeats.

    Dorival Junior's side will have to cope without key defender Militao for the first international break of the season, after the Brazilian FA (CBF) confirmed he had suffered an injury.

    "Defender Eder Militao complained of muscle pain in his right thigh after training on Wednesday and after medical exams carried out on Thursday, it was identified a small muscle injury in his right thigh," the CBF said in a statement.

    "The player has been ruled out of Brazil's next two qualifying matches and the CBF expresses its solidarity with the player at this time and wishes him a speedy recovery."

    Militao, who missed most of last season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, is the latest Madrid player to suffer injury problems at the start of this season.

    Midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni and left-back Ferland Mendy both left France's camp ahead of their Nations League clashes against Italy and Belgium due to injuries sustained in Los Blancos' 2-0 win over Real Betis on Sunday.

    Eduardo Camavinga, Dani Ceballos and Jude Bellingham have also suffered from injuries in the last few weeks, while David Alaba is still recovering from an ACL tear suffered last term.

     

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.