Cristiano Ronaldo goalscoring record: List of all-time top scorers, although totals are subject to debate.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s career has been built on achieving the impossible with ruthless efficiency in front of goal.
The 37-year-old has dropped goalscoring records throughout his trophy-laden career as the all-time top scorer for Real Madrid and the Portugal national team.
However, his hat-trick in Manchester United’s 3-2 win over Tottenham in the Premier League on March 12, 2022 set a new benchmark of personal excellence for Ronaldo.
This first hat-trick since returning to Manchester United in the summer of 2021 brings Ronaldo’s career tally to 807. top scorer in the history of men’s football.as recognized by FIFA.
He went on to score a further six goals in the 2021-22 Premier League season and two more UEFA Nations League goals with Portugal in June, before scoring his first goal of the 2022/23 League season. Europa against Sheriff Tiraspol in September in . reach the 816 goal mark.
Sporting News has contacted FIFA to confirm this list, but the world governing body has confirmed that it does not maintain an official list of goal statistics for individual players. That hasn’t stopped other outlets, including TalkSport and SI.com, from listing the following top 10 « FIFA recognised » goal totals:
| Ranking | Player | Goals |
| 1. | Cristiano Ronaldo | 816 |
| 2. | Josef Bican | 805 |
| 3. | Lionel Messi | 780 |
| 4. | Romario | 772 |
| 5. | Pele | 757 |
| 6. | Ferenc Puskas | 746 |
| 7. | Gerd Muller | 734 |
| 8. | Ferenc Deak | 576 |
| 9. | Uwe Seeler | 575 |
| Tulio Maravilha | 575 |
Lionel Messi is the only other active player on this list, but is currently 36 goals behind Ronaldo (including his combined 12 goals for PSG and Argentina so far in 2022/23).
Depending on the length of their respective careers, Messi could potentially make up the difference given he’s 35, compared to Ronaldo’s 37.
MORE: Updated list of Premier League top scorers
Ronaldo breaks FIFA goalscoring record
Ronaldo’s exploits as a goalscorer have rekindled the adoration of fans of the United States soccer team for their hero and their vision of the ultimate ‘GOAT’.
The 🐐 @Cristiano ♥️ pic.twitter.com/Xju55IYVfA
— Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) March 12, 2022
However, the record itself is open to interpretation, with some football historians claiming it is impossible to be certain due to the lack of accurate record in pre-20th century football.
The record that Ronaldo broke is linked to the estimated number of games and goals recorded by FIFA during its existence as an organization, with the previous record holder, Josef Bican, having scored an incredible 805 goals between 1931 and 1955. Ronaldo is in the 20th year of his career.
But Bican’s actual numbers are still hotly disputed, with Brazilian icon Pele also claiming to have scored over 1,000 career goals – although this has not been confirmed.
MORE: The top scorers in the Champions League
No consensus on men’s world goalscoring record
In terms of accepted recognition, Ronaldo has now established himself as the ‘highest goalscorer in recognized FIFA games’, but the discussion rages on.
The Czech Football Federation have regularly disputed Bican’s 805 figure claiming that he had in fact scored 821 at the time of recording the final tally.
The top scorer in the history of football? 🤔
The history and statistics committee of the Czech FA has counted all the goals scored by the legendary Josef Bican and we can state that he has scored 821 goals in official matches.
Jaroslav Kolář, the head of the commission, gives us more details. pic.twitter.com/eYqTcGJf1p
– Czech national football team (@cekarepre_eng) January 21, 2021
However, Ronaldo has the record-keepers on his side in this matter, with his own indisputable, non-amateur numbers such as some of Pele’s goals.
Bican’s figures illustrate the lack of information between national federations and FIFA, world football’s governing body. His domestic supporters say the higher figure is correct, while FIFA say they could both be wrong with a possible total of 823, as ESPN reports.
Pele’s crusade to stay on top of the pile has taken on a personal aspect for the Brazilian legend, with his ‘official number’ set at 757, but the man himself claiming to have scored a whopping 1,283 despite a clear lack of proofs.
I have scored 1283 goals in my life,
— Pele (@Pele) September 25, 2015
FIFA and South American body CONMEBOL previously recorded Pelé with 1,281 goals in 1,363 games, but these include youth games, friendlies and unofficial matches, which Ronaldo’s figure does not. not include.
According to the authoritative and widely cited organization RSSSF (Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation), their totals and rankings are also different.
The situation is further complicated by the Guinness Book of World Records, which confirms that Pelé is the record holder, but with 1,279 goals, as exhibition goals are prohibited in this book.
.@Pele has the most goals in his football career (1,279)! Everyone stay true to your passions: https://t.co/45XlIquRbn pic.twitter.com/9a8XMsQKQj
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) August 30, 2016
One way to interpret this jumble of information: Ronaldo is the new leader when it comes to ‘goals in official matches’, with Pele’s disputed numbers giving him an edge in ‘overall matches’.
Where did Ronaldo score his 816 goals?
Ronaldo has scored more than half of his Real Madrid goals with 450.
He now has 143 at Manchester United, as well as 117 with the Portugal national team, 101 with Juventus and five with Sporting CP.
| Crew | Goals |
| real Madrid | 450 |
| Manchester United | 143 |
| Portugal national team | 117 |
| Juventus | 101 |
| Sporting CP | 5 |
More goals may be added to this grand tally as Ronaldo shows he can still score with the best of them.
His 18 Premier League goals in 2021/22 were good for third place in the English Premier League, behind Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min (23 goals). Just last year, he finished top scorer at Euro 2021 and the Italian Serie A season with Juventus (29 goals).
A reminder of his longevity came with that record treble against Tottenham. He scored another Premier League hat-trick a few weeks later against Norwich City (April 16):
14 – Cristiano Ronaldo scored his second Premier League hat-trick and the first since January 2008 against Newcastle. His two hat-tricks were separated by 14 years and 59 days, the longest gap between two hat-tricks for a player in Premier League history. Longevity, life expectancy. pic.twitter.com/UaOf7CU3yU
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 12, 2022
