A few days earlier in Lisbon (on Thursday 5/9) he had scored against Croatia (2-1) and had reached the magical number 900.

"It means a lot," Ronaldo said. "It was a milestone I wanted to reach for a long time. I knew I was going to reach that number, because as long as I keep playing, it would happen naturally."

"It was emotional because it's a milestone," he said. "It seems like any other milestone, but only I know, and the people around me, how hard it is to work every day, to be physically and mentally in good shape, to score 900 goals. It is a unique milestone in my career."

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner is 59 goals clear of his nearest rival, Lionel Messi, who has 842 goals, while the late Pele is third on the list with 765 goals. Ronaldo was also the first to break the 800 goal barrier. He did so at the end of 2021 while in his second spell with Manchester United.

The Portugal captain's 131 international goals in 209 appearances are also the most of all time. Messi is again second behind Ronaldo on this list. He and former Iran striker Ali Daei both have 109 goals. As well as Al Nasr and Manchester United, Ronaldo has also shared his 769 collective goals between Sporting, Real Madrid and Juventus.

Ever competitive, Ronaldo was quick to point out what would set his own goals apart from other all-time great goalscorers, including legends such as Pele and Alfredo Di Stefano, who played in an era when cameras weren't as prevalent.

"All the goals I've scored are on video," he said. “Everything is on video. Listen, I respect them all (Pele and Di Stefano). And if you want more goals, I can score them in training. And I'll prove it to the world afterwards. They prefer this player or the other. I don't care about that."

Cristiano Ronaldo's goals:

Portugal 132

Real Madrid 450

Man. United 145

Juventus 101

Al Nasr 68

Sporting Lisboa  5

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TOTAL 901

The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS - Greece is represented by Manos Staramopoulos) list of all milestone goals in Cristiano Ronaldo's extraordinary career, with the exact age and number of matches he scored in each:

Milestone Date Team Match Dir. Age No. St. No. St.

Debut 14/08/2002 Sporting Inter (0:0) Euro qual. 17-190 1

Goal № 1 07/10/2002 Sporting Moreirense (3:0) league 17-244 5

Goal № 100 27/01/2008 Manchester United Tottenham (3:1)Cup 22-356 301 301

Goal № 200 04/12/2010 Real Madrid Valencia (2:0) league 25-302 458 157

Goal № 300 05/05/2012 Real Madrid Granada (2:1) league 27-090 554 96

Goal № 400 06/01/2014 Real Madrid Telta (3:0) league 28-335 653 99

Goal № 500 30/09/2015 Real Madrid Malmo (2:0)Champ. Leag.30-212 753 100

Goal № 600 03/06/2017 Real Madrid Juventus(4:1)Champ. Leag.32-118 855 102

Goal № 700 14/10/2019 Portugal Ukraine (1:2) Euro qual. 34-251 974 119

Goal № 800 02/12/2021 Manchester United Arsenal (3:2) league 36-300 1095 121

Goal № 900 05/09/2024 Portugal Croatia (2:1)Nations L. 39-213 1236 141