Cristiano Ronaldo: All-time leading scorer in men's international football

How many goals has Ronaldo scored for Portugal?

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a world record 122 goals since making his Portugal debut in 2003. He is also the all-time leading appearance maker in men's international football having played 198 games, eclipsing the previous record of 196 held by Kuwait's Bader Al-Mutawa against Liechtenstein on 23 March 2023 – and marking the occasion with two goals.

When did Ronaldo break the international goals record?

Ronaldo broke the world record for international goals when he scored twice against Republic of Ireland in Portugal's European Qualifier in Faro-Loulé on 1 September 2021, aged 36. He surpassed the existing world-record mark set by former Iran forward Ali Daei – the first man to claim a century of international goals. Lionel Messi joined the elite group on 28 March 2023.

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Has Ronaldo scored every year since making his Portugal debut?

Ronaldo didn't score in his first two appearances, in 2003, but has since registered for 20 years running, including 2023. That is good enough to set a new world record, beating the mark of Robbie Keane, who struck every year for the Republic of Ireland between 1998 and 2016.

Leading international scorers

122 Cristiano Ronaldo* (Portugal) – 198 appearances
109 Ali Daei (Iran) – 148 appearances
102 Lionel Messi* (Argentina) – 174 appearances
89 Mokhtar Dahari (Malaysia) – 142 appearances
85 Sunil Chhetri* (India) – 133 appearances
84 Ferenc Puskás (Hungary) – 89 appearances
80 Ali Mabkhout* (United Arab Emirates) – 109 appearances
79 Godfrey Chitalu (Zambia) – 111 appearances
78 Hussein Saeed (Iraq) – 137 appearances
78 Robert Lewandowski* (Poland) – 140 appearances
77 Neymar* (Brazil) – 124 appearances
77 Pelé (Brazil) – 92 appearances
75 Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) – 68 appearances
75 Kunishige Kamamoto (Japan) – 76 appearances
75 Bashar Abdullah (Kuwait) – 134 appearances

*still active

Data correct as of 29 March 2023