WATCH: Cristiano Ronaldo Becomes First Football Player To Score 900 Career Goals
Portugal football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo rewrote history once again, becoming the first man in the history of the sport to score 900 career goals. Ronaldo’s historic 900th career goal came off a volley from 6 yards out from a cross from Portugal teammate Nuno Mendes which put his side up 2-0 in the 34th minute of their UEFA Nations League 2024-25 match against Luka Modric’s Croatia on Thursday (September 5) night.
The 39-year-old is the first man to reach the 900-goal mark in officially documented matches for club and country by scoring in Portugal’s 2-1 win over Modric’s Croatia.
WATCH Cristiano Ronaldo score his 900th career goal HERE…
CRISTIANO RONALDO REACHES 900 CAREER GOALS FOR CLUB AND COUNTRY
JUST LOOK AT WHAT IT MEANS TO HIM
— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) September 5, 2024
“It means a lot,” Ronaldo said. “It was a milestone I wanted to reach for a long time. I knew I would reach this number, because as I continue to play, it would happen naturally.”
While celebrating his 900th goal, Ronaldo raised his hands to his face and dropped to his knees. “It was emotional because it’s a milestone. It seems like any other milestone, but only I know, and the people around me, how hard it is to work every day, to be physically and psychologically fit, to score 900 goals. It’s a unique milestone in my career,” Ronaldo said.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is 58 goals ahead of his nearest challenger – Lionel Messi – who is on 842. Brazilian legend Pelé is third on the list with 765 goals. Ronaldo was also the first footballer to break the 800-goal bar, ahead of Messi, back in 2021 while scoring for Manchester United in his second stint with the club.
On Thursday night, the Portugal captain scored his 131st goal in 209 matches – leading the charts in international goals as well. Messi is again second on the list ahead of Iran’s Ali Daei, although both have 109 goals currently.
Meanwhile, Spain was held at Serbia in their first match since winning the UEFA Euro 2024, while San Marino won a competitive game for the first time by beating Liechtenstein.
Ronaldo and Modric, the former Real Madrid teammates, are nearing the end of their careers but are still going strong with their national teams. Modric will turn 39 on Monday.
Ronaldo found the net in the 34th minute at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon to put Portugal up 2-1. He put his hands to his head and dropped to his knees during the celebration.
He was coming off a disappointing performance at the UEFA Euro 2024, when he went scoreless in all five of Portugal’s games before it was eliminated in a penalty shootout by France in the quarterfinals. Diogo Dalot had put Portugal ahead seven minutes into the match, and his own-goal in the 41st made it 1-1.
(with AP inputs)