The numbers behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s 900 goals: Real Madrid, Portugal, penalties, free kicks…

Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 900th goal of his professional career on Thursday (5 September) in Portugal’s opening 2024/25 Nations League game against Croatia at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, extending his record over Lionel Messi as the top goalscorer of all time at international level.

With his team already 1-0 up, Ronaldo doubled Portugal’s lead by converting Nuno Mendes’ left-wing cross first time from close range in the 34th minute.

The former Real Madrid star has now scored 131 goals for Portugal in 213 caps, a rate of 0.61 per game, down on his record in domestic and European competitions.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s goals per club

To date, 769 of Ronaldo’s 900 goals have come at club level, where he has played 1,025 Games (an average of 0.75 goals per Game). The majority of those (450) came during his nine-year spell with Real Madrid, although he has also been hugely prolific with Manchester United (145 goals), Juventus (101) and Al Nassr (68).

Right at the beginning of his career, he also scored five goals for Sporting CP as a teenager in the 2002/03 season before leaving for The Red Devils.

The Portuguese holds the record for most goals in the UEFA Champions League (140 in 183 appearances, 0.77 per Game), 11 more than Messi, albeit having played 20 more Games. He is also the top goalscorer in the History of the European Championship (14) having also played significantly more matches than any other player.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s goals per type

Of the 900, Ronaldo has scored 574 with his right foot and 173 with his left. 151 have been headers, with two credited to “other body parts,” as per the Messi vs Ronaldo app.

The attacker has converted 164 of the 194 penalties (85.4% conversion rate) he has taken in his career, as well as 64 free kicks (7.1% conversion rate). Those account for all but four of the 68 goals he has scored from outside the penalty box, with 604 of his goals coming inside the area (not including penalties).

Ronaldo has just started the 23rd season of his career with Al Nassr, who he joined in January 2023. He has already scored four goals in four appearances for his club this term, with plenty more likely to follow. At 39, he surely couldn’t get to 1,000, could he?