The numbers behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s century of international goals
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Cristiano Ronaldo became just the second player in history to score 100 goals for their country when he fired in a stunning trademark free-kick in Portugal’s Nations League win over Sweden on Tuesday.
And as if that wasn’t enough, the seemingly ageless 35-year-old took his tally to 101 shortly after, meaning he is now just eight goals behind the all-time record, set by Iranian Ali Daei.
The Juventus man reached the landmark in only 165 appearances, with countless important goals coming along the way. And judging by his performance against Sweden, it doesn’t look like he will be slowing down anytime soon.
Let’s take a look at the numbers behind Ronaldo’s remarkable milestone achievement.
Unsurpsingly, 55 of Ronaldo’s 101 goals for Portugal were scored using his right foot. But the remaining 46 are spread fairly evenly between his left foot (22) and headers (24).
Not many players can say they have scored 46 goals for their country, but Ronaldo has netted that amount alone without using his strongest foot!
Overall, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star has netted seven hat-tricks and 17 doubles for Portugal, along with two +3-goal hauls.
20 of his 101 goals for Portugal were scored from outside the box, with ten of those coming from direct free-kicks. The other 81 were scored inside the box, 11 of which were penalties.
Ronaldo also has a couple of countries he loves scoring against. Indeed, he has netted seven goals against Lithuania and Sweden over the years.
It is also worth pointing out that since Ronaldo’s debut, no other Portuguese player has come close to matching his outstanding goalscoring record. Pauleta is the country’s next highest scorer since 2003, and he only managed to net 27 goals during that period.
Even at the ripe old age of 35, Ronaldo is nowhere near finished. He bagged an astonishing 31 goals in 33 Serie A games last term, so he clearly has many more years in the tank.
Portugal have qualified for next summer’s European Championship, and with a number of Nations League games on the horizon, it is surely only a matter of time before Cristiano Ronaldo breaks the all-time international goalscoring record.
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