Cristiano Ronaldo scored again in his most recent Portugal match to edge his way closer to becoming the top scoring international of all time.
Portugal’s captain passed the 100-goal mark with two goals in a 2-0 Nations League win over Sweden last September and scored goal no.103 against Luxembourg on Tuesday night.
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Iran’s Ali Daei scored 109 goals in 149 caps during his career before retiring in 2006 and the record is something 35-year-old Ronaldo has been gunning for.
Speaking in 2019 when he scored goal no.99 for Portugal, he said: “All records must be broken and I will beat that record.”
Ronaldo, who helped Portugal to win the 2016 Euros and last summer’s Nations League, now has 103 goals from 168 appearances thanks to his neat finish in the World Cup qualifier at Luxembourg.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward is six away from equalling Daei’s record and has the chance to close the gap Portugal take on Spain and Israel in friendlies before they play in the rescheduled Euro 2020 finals, where they’re in a group with Hungary, Germany and France.
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Top all-time international goal scorers
Ali Daei, Iran: 109 goals in 149 caps
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal: 103 goals in 173 caps
Ferenc Puskas, Hungary: 84 goals in 85 caps
Kunishige Kamamoto, Japan: 80 goals in 84 caps
Godfrey Chitalu, Zambia: 79 goals in 111 caps
Hussein Saeed, Iraq: 78 goals in 137 caps
Pele, Brazil: 77 goals in 92 caps
It was a much better outing for Ronaldo than it was last weekend, which saw him denied a win in Portugal’s qualifier at Serbia.
The Juventus forward believed he had snatched all three points in Belgrade during an enthralling World Cup qualifier when his goalbound effort was hooked off the line by Stefan Mitrovic.
Replays suggested the ball had crossed the line, despite Mitrovic’s valiant effort to hack the ball off the line, with no Video Assistant Referee or technology in place to provide clarity.
Clearly infuriated, Ronaldo remonstrated with the officials to change their decision, but hurled his captain’s armband to the floor and stormed off the pitch at full time in disgust.
The ending was befitting of a game packed with quality, which saw Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic became Serbia’s all-time top goalscorer as he netted his 39th goal in 63 appearances.
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