39-year-old striker Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 900th career goal, scoring to help Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in the first round of Group A of the 2024-2025 Nations League.
Scorers: Diogo Dalot 7′, Cristiano Ronaldo 34′ – Dalot own goal 43′
Despite a lacklustre performance and a goalless start in all five Euro 2024 matches, Ronaldo was called up for the two UEFA Nations League matches against Croatia and Scotland. The 39-year-old even started and captained the match against Croatia at the Da Luz Stadium in Lisbon on September 5.
The explosive moment came in the 34th minute, when Ronaldo ran to receive a cross from the left wing by Nuno Mendes and tapped the ball into the corner of goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic’s net. After scoring, the Portuguese captain did not jump up and down in celebration as usual, but collapsed to the ground, holding his face, seemingly in tears.
Striker Cristiano Ronaldo (No. 7) scored to make it 2-0 in Portugal’s 2-1 win over Croatia in the first round of Group A of the 2024-2025 Nations League at Da Luz Stadium, Lisbon on September 5. Photo: AP
A moment later, Ronaldo sat up and smiled brightly as his teammates came to share their joy. Fans all over the stands also stood up to applaud and took out their phones to record the historic moment.
Ronaldo became the first player in history to score 900 goals in professional matches. Behind him were rival Lionel Messi with 842 and the late legend Pele with 765 goals. Ronaldo was also the first to reach the 800-goal mark, achieving this feat in 2021 while playing for Man Utd.
Of the 900 goals, Ronaldo holds the record for scoring 131 goals at the national team level. Messi continues to rank behind Ronaldo, as he and Iran striker Ali Daei both have 109 goals.
Ronaldo was elated after scoring to make it 2-0 in Portugal’s 2-1 win over Croatia at home stadium Da Luz, Lisbon on September 5. Photo: LUSA
At club level, Ronaldo has five goals for Sporting, 145 for Man Utd, 450 for Real Madrid, 101 for Juventus and 68 for his current club Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League.
In a conversation with former teammate Rio Ferdinand on his personal YouTube channel , Ronaldo affirmed his ambition to reach the 1,000-goal mark. The Portuguese striker also said that all of his goals have video evidence – a statement that is believed to be aimed at the late legend Pele.
In Portugal’s match against Croatia yesterday, Diogo Dalot opened the scoring with a close-range shot in the 7th minute before Ronaldo doubled the lead. In the 41st minute, Dalot himself scored an own goal from a cross by Borna Sosa, but Portugal still maintained the score at 2-1.
Ronaldo’s performance on the day he reached 900 goals.
On September 8, Ronaldo and his teammates continued to play at home in Lisbon against Scotland – the team that lost 2-3 to Poland in the opening round of the Nations League group stage.