Cristiano Ronaldo: Football's 900-goal great

Al Nassr captain Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first player to score 900 senior career goals.

The Portuguese superstar, 39, netted a close-range finish for his national team in Thursday’s UEFA Nations League opener against Croatia in Lisbon. Ronaldo, who scored twice in two 2024-25 Roshn Saudi League matches to take him to 899 goals, volleyed home just after the hour at Estadio da Luz to put Portugal 2-0 up.  

Ronaldo recognised the milestone immediately, falling to his knees at the corner flag before being overcome with emotion. Coming 20 years after his first international goal, it also extended his remarkable men’s international record to 131. Portugal eventually won the game 2-1.

Understandably, it was Ronaldo who garnered many headlines for his latest feat. Here, we look at the numbers that have created the man whom many consider the greatest goalscorer of all-time.

The 900 breakdown

Portugal - 131

Al Nassr - 68

Juventus - 101

Manchester United - 145

Real Madrid - 450

Sporting CP - 5

The beginning

It all started a barely believable 22 years ago, when Ronaldo notched a double for club Sporting on October 7 2002, in a 3-0 win against Moreirense. At age 17 years, eight months and three days, the teenager had bagged his first senior goals.

The meteoric Manchester move

Signing for English Premier League powerhouse Manchester United in 2003, Ronaldo would go on to score 118 goals in 293 games for the club. What makes the numbers even more impressive was that, back then, Ronaldo was deployed principally as a winger by Sir Alex Ferguson.

The record-breaking Real era

Having moved to Real Madrid in 2009 for a then-world record €94 million, Ronaldo etched his name in the revered Spanish club’s history books. In 438 appearances, he struck a truly extraordinary 450 times, meaning that, by the time he departed the Santiago Bernabeu in 2018, Ronaldo perched proudly at the top of Real Madrid's all-time goalscorers' list.

The Italian job

Wanting to prove he could do it in yet another major league, Ronaldo continued his formidable form in Serie A with Juventus. In three years in Turin, he netted 101 goals in 134 games. The forward would return to Manchester United in 2021, adding another 27 goals in 54 appearances. It was during his second spell at Old Trafford that he surpassed the 800-gaol mark.

The trailblazing transfer to Saudi

In late December 2022, Ronaldo sent shockwaves around the football world by signing for Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr. Setting out his intentions to maintain his prolific prowess, the five-time Ballon d’Or has done just that: in 74 matches for Al Nassr, Ronaldo has scored 68 times. Last season, he set a record for most goals in a single Roshn Saudi League season, with 35.

The unparalleled Portugal career

Debuting for his national team in 2003, aged 18, Ronaldo has another sizeable list of records in international football. He is both the most-capped male player of all-time, with 213, while in autumn 2020 he became the first European to reach 100 international goals.

After finishing as the top scorer at the delayed 2020 UEFA European Championship, Ronaldo was soon creating history: on September 1 2021, he scored twice against the Republic of Ireland in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier to overtake Iran’s Ali Daei longstanding mark for most international goals in men’s football, with 109.

At the most recent FIFA World Cup, in Qatar in 2022, Ronaldo’s converted penalty in the group stages against Ghana meant he reigned as the first player to score in five separate global finals.

The next target

Even at 39, Ronaldo is displaying the commitment and confidence that has made him one of the greatest footballers to have graced the game. Speaking in an interview released last week on his own YouTube channel – another record-breaking enterprise – the Al Nassr star told former Manchester United teammate Rio Ferdinand: “I want to reach 1,000 goals.

"If I don't have any injuries, this for me is the most important [thing]. I want that. For me, the best mark that I can have in football is to reach, first, 900 goals. After, my challenge is to be at 1,000 goals."