Cristiano Ronaldo: 111 goals for Portugal, new world record in football
KATHMANDU: SEPT. 2 – Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo has set a new record for most goals in international men’s football.
He scored two goals in the World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland to take his tally to 111. Portugal won the match 2-1 dramatically.
Ronaldo, 36, broke the record for most goals scored and then extended it, scoring two goals from the end of the game.
Earlier, Irish goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu had deflected a penalty.
Ali Dai, who scored 109 goals in 149 games for Iran from 1993 to 2006, was previously the top scorer.
Ronaldo equalled the record with two goals against France at Euro 2020.
Ronaldo, who plays club football for Manchester United, has equalled Sergio Ramos’ European record in the 180th game for the national team.
According to FIFA, Malaysia’s Soh Chin An played 195 games from 1969 to 1984. That is the world record so far.
Ronaldo and Daei are the only two men to score ninety or more international goals.
“I’m very happy. Not just because we broke the record, but because of the special moments we had,” he told RTE.
“Two goals towards the end of the game. I should appreciate what the team did. We kept the faith until the end. I’m very happy.”
His performance reinforces the argument that Ronaldo is still the greatest player.
He has scored the most goals in club football’s highest competition, the European Cup / Champions League. He has won the competition five times.
Ronaldo previously played for Real Madrid.
He has scored the most goals in the history of the European Championship (14) and a total of 21 goals in the Euro and World Cup.
How many goals did Ronaldo score?
- World Cup Qualifier – 33
- European Championship Qualifiers – 31
- Friendly International Games – 19
- European Championship – 14
- World Cup – 7
- UEFA Nations League – 5
- Confederations Cup – 2
Almost half of Ronaldo’s goals came in the last 30 minutes of the game.
He has scored 33 times in the last 15 minutes.
Two goals were scored against the Republic of Ireland in the same period.
He also scored 22 goals in the 61st to 75th minutes of the match.
He has scored 17 goals in 16 to 30 minutes and 16 goals in 31 to 45 minutes. He scored 11 goals in 15 minutes in the first half and 12 in 15 minutes in the second half.
Ronaldo has scored 91 times inside the box and 20 times outside.
He has scored 14 times from the penalty spot and nine times from the free-kick.
He has scored seven goals each against Lithuania and Sweden.
Comparison with Messi
Ronaldo has scored 111 goals in 180 games, while the famous Argentine Messi has scored only 76 goals in 151 games.
Ronaldo, who averaged 0.6 goals in a game, is ahead of Messi, who has scored 0.5 goals.
Messi is eighth on the list of top scorers.
He is now 34 years old.
He has to play until the age of 40 to score 111 international goals at the current rate.
The biggest achievement of Ronaldo’s playing career was the Euro 2016 title. But in the final game, he was injured and was already out.
He scored twice in the Euro semifinals in 12 years. Against The Netherlands in 2004 and Wales in 2016.
He scored three goals in the group stage match against Spain at the World Cup in Russia.
He has scored in all the nine major competitions he has participated in.
He played four games at Euro 2020 and scored five goals to win the Golden Boot.
-BBC
