Cristiano Ronaldo: The Best Goalscorer in History

Photo by Maciej Rogowski

Whether you love him or hate him, there is one thing that is undeniable: Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best football players the world has ever seen. Two weeks ago, he once again broke the record books, as he became the first player in history to officially break the 900-goal barrier. The historic moment happened in the 34th minute of a Nations League match against Croatia, which helped give Portugal a 2-1 win. 

You may notice the emphasis on the word “officially,” as there has been some debate regarding the actual amount of goals some players of the past have scored (such as Pele arguing he has scored 1200+). Regardless, nobody can take this achievement away from Ronaldo, as even he joked in a recent conversation with Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand that “all the goals I have scored, they have video.” 

At the time of writing this, Ronaldo’s mark actually stands at 901 goals after scoring the match-winning goal against Scotland in the dying moments of the match. Surpassing this milestone is not only a true testament to his goalscoring capability but to his longevity in the sport as he continues to score and show no signs of stopping anytime soon.

NEW LEAGUE? NO PROBLEM

One of the aspects of Ronaldo’s goal-scoring that is so impressive has been his ability to adapt to changing teams and leagues throughout his career. Below is a look at how many goals he has scored throughout his career per season, which helps to highlight how he reacts after switching clubs.

If you take a look at Ronaldo’s first season with each club after arriving, it turns out that it is always the season in which he will score the least amount of goals for the team. In 2003/04, he scored 6 goals for Manchester United, then 33 for Real Madrid in 2009/10, followed by 28 goals in 2018/19 for Juventus, and finally 14 goals for Al Nassr in 2022/23 (joined halfway through the season). You may notice I omitted his 24 goals for United in his second stint with the club in 2021/22, but that was because he did not play a full second season to compare this number with.

Nonetheless, it would seem that after one season of adjustment, Ronaldo finds his rhythm and begins racking up the goals. To truly illustrate how ridiculously fast Ronaldo can find his place in a team and score an abundance of goals, I believe one has to look no further than his three seasons at Juventus. In that period, he somehow managed to reach 101 goals for the club, making him the fastest player to reach 100 goals for the bianconeri. In fact, he also was Juventus’ top scorer in the 2010s decade, despite joining the club in 2018.

A COMPLETE STRIKER

Another facet of Ronaldo is how he is able to score goals in virtually any way. Over a third of his goals have not been using his strong foot, including 151 headers and 173 goals with his left foot. While it remains clear that he much prefers utilizing his right foot, if you were to watch those 173 goals you could believe that his left foot is actually his strong foot.

Ronaldo is a huge threat in aerial duels as well, and now everyone has become familiar with the impressive heights Ronaldo can reach when jumping for the ball. Similar to how he flies over his opponents to score, he has soared to the top of another list and become the player with the most headers scored in history.

Sadly for his opponents, Ronaldo is not only a threat in the 18-yard box. He has scored an astounding 131 goals from outside of the box, including 63 free kicks (he has scored 64, but one was inside the penalty area). As if this was not enough, Cristiano is also a very composed penalty kicktaker. While penalties are something that many may consider an easy goal, the pressure of these moments can be immense. Be that as it may, Ronaldo has scored from the spot 164 times out of 194 attempts, with many of these occurring in high-pressure moments.

PRESSURE? WHAT PRESSURE?

Speaking about high-pressure moments, Ronaldo is no stranger to scoring goals when his team needs it the most. As shown in the charts below, Ronaldo tends to score more goals in the second half of games. He has found the back of the net a total of 498 times in the second half, compared to 395 times in the first half.

Does this really mean that Ronaldo scores in the important moments of the match though? Well when the numbers are broken down even further, more of the story is revealed. When evaluating his goalscoring tendencies in blocks of 15 minutes, it is abundantly clear that Ronaldo likes to score in the final 15 minutes of the match. While for most of the other blocks of time, he has around 125-150 goals, that number increases drastically after the 75-minute mark, with Ronaldo having scored 212 times.

The surprises don’t stop there though, as it is actually possible to continue to break these numbers down more. When looking at the individual minutes that Ronaldo has scored in, 49 of those 212 goals have actually come in the 90th-minute mark. It is worth noting that in these charts, the 45 and 90-minute marks include goals scored in stoppage time. He has scored 8 times in stoppage time in the first half, and from the 49 goals in the 90th minute, 29 of them came in stoppage time.

To continue to highlight just how impactful Ronaldo is in the final 15 minutes, Ronaldo has scored a total of 22 equalizers and 52 match-winners in those minutes. If the 90th minute is looked at once again, Ronaldo has tied the game 6 times and found match-winning goals a total of 10 times. This is why no matter the circumstances, even when it seems as though all hope is lost and time has run out, if Ronaldo is on the pitch, you always have a chance.

WHAT’S NEXT?

All these numbers are remarkable. Yet even more extraordinarily, Ronaldo has not retired yet and will continue to score goals. Ronaldo himself has stated that he would like to reach 1000 goals, which many considered impossible at some point. Now, with every game he plays in, that number gets closer and closer to becoming a reality. At the rate he has been going, he might be able to reach that prized 4-digit mark in the next 2 years, when he is 41 years old. Assuming he stays injury-free and keeps up his current form, this could mean Ronaldo will play in the 2026 World Cup, and potentially even score his 1000th goal on the world’s biggest stage. For now, all we can do is continue to witness history. He will play his 1,239th game in a few minutes, as Al Nassr faces Al Ettifaq, and fans can only hope that he can find the net and inch closer to making the impossible possible.

Love him or hate him, the undeniable fact remains: Cristiano Ronaldo is a legend.