Legendary Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo is leaving no stone unturned in his quest to reach the magical record of 1,000 career goals.
He recently made headlines around the world when he scored two goals for Al-Nassr against Al-Najma. This took his official goal tally to 967 – meaning he is now just 33 goals away from that huge record.
However, reports have suddenly started circulating online claiming that the Portuguese star actually has only 961 goals. The reason: websites like SofaScore and Transfermarkt do not include six goals in their statistics, as they classify the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup, Ronaldo’s only title in Saudi Arabia to date, as simply a friendly tournament.
At the same time, various users claimed that this was done on direct instructions from FIFA – the world governing body reportedly did not recognize the competition or Ronaldo’s victory.
However, this information was quickly revealed to be unfounded. The IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics) confirmed the validity of all goals scored, including the six ‘disputed’ ones.
Moreover, FIFA itself changed the balance: in its official congratulations on Ronaldo’s 950th goal, the goals scored in the Arab Club Champions Cup were explicitly included.
In an assessment published a month ago, the world governing body also paid tribute to Ronaldo’s achievements at the tournament for Al-Nassr. Reports of FIFA’s alleged refusal to recognise those achievements have turned out to be classic examples of fake news.
Other well-known statistics experts, such as FotMob and Opta, also continue to include the six goals in their databases.
The CentreGoals website also highlighted that FIFA continues to recognise both Ronaldo and Al-Nassr as the rightful winners of the trophy.
So, there is no reason to deduct those six goals from the total of 967. The path to 1,000 goals remains clear for CR7.
