Cristiano Ronaldo’s milestone moments as he scores 900th career goal
The Portuguese football legend is the first player to achieve this milestone as he now sets his sights on reaching 1,000 goals for club and country.
Football
There is no talisman in football quite like Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo scored his record 900th career goal on Thursday (5 September), finishing from close range en route to Portugal’s 2-1 Nations League win against Croatia.
The Portuguese legend becomes the first player in history to score 900 goals in competitive club and country football; he was also the first to reach 800 goals in December 2021.
Now 39 years old, Ronaldo is a man who lives for the big occasion and continues to rewrite the record books, with the next big target being 1,000 goals.
From goal number one to 900, here are the milestone goals in the decorated story of Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro.
Ronaldo’s early beginnings and century of goals
Ronaldo scored his first goal in professional football in October 2002, netting twice in Sporting CP’s Portuguese league match against Moreirense.
His 100th goal would come at his next club, Manchester United, in January 2008, when he scored a penalty against Tottenham to reach the milestone of a century of strikes.
At the end of that year, Ronaldo won his first of five Ballon D’Or awards and was named the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year. He also won his first UEFA Champions League that year. It was his final year with United before making a then-world record transfer to Real Madrid.
CR7 reached his next five landmarks with Los Blancos, scoring his 200th and 300th goals just 17 months apart. He then netted goal number 400, which was dedicated to the late Portuguese legend Eusébio, in January 2014.
Ronaldo scored his 400th career goal in Real Madrid's 3-0 win against Celta de Vigo in January 2014.
500 up for Ronaldo, marks 600 on the big stage
If there is one competition where Ronaldo has truly left his mark, it is the UEFA Champions League.
The tournament’s all-time leading goalscorer achieved 500 career goals in a group stage game against Malmo in September 2015. Ronaldo followed that up by winning the European Championship with Portugal in 2016, but his next landmark of 600 goals was on the most perfect stage yet: the 2017 Champions League final.
Ronaldo scored twice in Real Madrid’s 4-1 triumph over Juventus, with his second goal sealing the trophy and marking his 600th career goal. Alongside his fourth Champions League title, e also won his fifth Ballon d’Or, a second Spanish league title, and a third Club World Cup that year.
The forward has always loved representing his native Portugal, so it was fitting that his 700th goal came in the trademark shirt against Ukraine in October 2019.
Eleven months later, Ronaldo reached a century of international goals and remains the all-time leading international men’s goalscorer.
Ronaldo's latest milestone, goal number 900, which he celebrated in front of a home Portuguese crowd.
Ronaldo reaches new heights and sets his sights on 1,000 goals
Ronaldo has long competed with Lionel Messi and Pele in the all-time goalscoring charts, but he was the first to score 800 career goals in competitive football. Just like his 100th, his 800th came for Manchester United in a 3-2 victory against Arsenal in December 2021.
To think CR7 was done would be naïve. When he found the back of the net for goal number 900 in September 2024, he was overcome with emotion. To achieve what no professional male footballer has ever done, and in the twilight of his career, is nothing short of an outstanding achievement.
What is next is an easy answer: Ronaldo wants to write more history and reach quadruple figures.
Ronaldo said on his YouTube channel to former Manchester United teammate Rio Ferdinand in August (before he had scored his 900th goal), “I will raise the level even higher. Soon I will reach 900, and after I will get 1,000. I want to reach 1,000 goals; if I do not have injuries, this is the most important thing for me. I want that.”