Cristiano Ronaldo

football | November 15 2024

Cristiano Ronaldo has established himself as one of the greatest players in the history of football over his long and glittering career, and the 38-year-old holds the medals and records to prove it.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro GOIH ComM is regarded by many as one of the greatest players of all time. He is currently the highest goalscorer in football.

Ronaldo was honoured Monday night with the prestigious Platinum Quinas trophy at the Quinas de Ouro ceremony, an annual event that celebrates the best in Portuguese football.

He is expected to lead Portugal in their UEFA Nations League clash against Poland later today by 4:45 pm Nigerian time.

Let us take a look at some of the records held by the Portugal captain.

International

Ronaldo holds the record for most international goals, with 123 goals in 201 appearances, surpassing Ali Daei in September 2021.
Ronaldo has made the most appearances for Portugal, with 201.
He is also the most capped player in men’s international football history, surpassing Al-Mutawa’s record in March 2023.
Following his brace against Liechtenstein in a Euro qualifier, Ronaldo became the first-ever player to score 100 competitive international goals.
Ronaldo is the only player to score in 11 consecutive international tournaments, between 2004 and 2022.
The 38-year-old is the first and only player to score in five World Cups. He’s also only one of five players to have played in five World Cups (alongside Lionel Messi, Lothar Matheus, Rafael Marquez, and Antonio Cabral).
He’s both Portugal’s youngest (21 years & 132 days) and oldest (37 years & 292 days) goalscorer at a World Cup.
He has the most European Championship goals in history, with 14.
He scored 32 international goals (club and national team) in 2017, the most by any player in a calendar year.

European

He is the first player to score 10 or more Champions League goals for three different clubs.
Ronaldo has the most Champions League goals in history with 141, 12 more than Messi on 129.
He broke the record for most goals in a European campaign, with 17 Champions League goals in 2013-14.
Ronaldo has scored in four Champions League finals, more than any other player.
He is the only player to score in all six Champions League group games in a single season, having done it in 2017-18 and 2021-22.
Ronaldo is just the third player to score a Champions League goal against a specific opponent with three different clubs, achieving the feat against Lyon in 2020.

Manchester United

Ronaldo was the first player to win both the Premier League Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards in the same season, in 2007-08.
Ronaldo holds the Manchester United record for most goals in a Premier League season with 31.
He is the only United player to ever win a Puskas award, for his goal against Porto in 2009.
Ronaldo is the only United player to win the European Golden Shoe, in 2008.
He is the only Manchester United player to be named in the World Player of the Year award, in 2008.

Real Madrid

Ronaldo broke the record for scoring more than 50 goals in consecutive seasons, having done it six times in a row between 2011 and 2016.
He is Real Madrid’s top goalscorer in history with 451 goals in 438 games, 128 more than Raul Gonzalez, who has 323 in 741 games.
He is Real Madrid’s leading scorer in La Liga, with 312 strikes.
Ronaldo has the highest number of games in which a player has scored three or more times in La Liga history with 34.
He scored the most by any Real Madrid player in a single season, with 61 goals in 2014-15.
Ronaldo was the fastest player to score 200, 250, and 300 La Liga goals.

Juventus

Ronaldo broke Juventus’ record for most goals scored in a single season, scoring 37 goals in all competitions in 2019-20.
He became the fastest player to score 50 Serie A goals, reaching his half-century in just 61 league outings for the Bianconeri.
Ronaldo became the first player to score 50 or more goals in the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A.
He is the first player to score 30 or more goals in a single season in three of Europe’s top five leagues.
After scoring three goals against Cagliari in January 2020, he became the first Portuguese player to score a hat-trick in Serie A history.
He is one of only two players to have scored a hat-trick in the Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A after Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The forward moved ahead of Rui Costa as the Portuguese player with the most goals in Italy’s top flight with 101 at Juventus.

Al Nassr

In May 2024, scored twice in Al-Nassr's 4-2 win against Al-Ittihad to reach 35, and overtook Abderrazak Hamdallah's mark of 34 in 2018-19, though the Morocco striker's haul - also for Al-Nassr - came from four fewer matches.