Cristiano Ronaldo goal record: Manchester United forward breaks Ali Daei goalscoring record

Cristiano is no stranger to breaking records, but CR7’s late brace against Republic of Ireland now cements him as the most prolific international goalscorer of all time.

A sensational “dream” return to Manchester United was rubbed stamped on Tuesday’s Deadline Day before, just 24 hours later, he sealed his place at the top of the all-time record international goalscoring charts.

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An 89th minute equaliser against Republic of Ireland during his country’s World Cup qualifying game in the Estadio Algarve officially cemented Ronaldo as the greatest international goalscorer of all time, smashing Iranian forward Ali Daei’s record that he has held for over 15 years.

Ronaldo has, once again, broken a goalscoring record. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)Ronaldo has, once again, broken a goalscoring record. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
Ronaldo has, once again, broken a goalscoring record. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)

In true Ronaldo style, the 36-year-old wasn’t content with just rescuing a late point for his country either, with the Portuguese number seven netting an injury time winner to break Irish hearts and in turn net an astonishing 111th international career goal.

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What is Ronaldo’s overall career record?

Quite simply, CR7’s scoring exploits have placed him amongst the greatest players of all time, with many claiming him as the best of his generation.

On the international front, the superstar famously led Portugal to their first ever major trophy when they defeated tournament favourites France at Euro 2016.

While the star was carried off injured during the final of the competition, many lauded his influence throughout the tournament.

Ronaldo has won a staggering five Ballon d’Or’s, four European Golden Shoe awards, three Premier League title, two La Liga titles, two Serie titles, five Champions League’s and a further 13 domestic trophies. In total, the forward has won an astonishing 30 cups during his club career and scored 674 goals in 894 games during spells at Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid and, most recently, Juventus.

And the 36-year-old Portugal star is showing no signs of slowing down.

Who are football’s record international goalscorers?

Of course, Cristiano now sit tops of that list with a staggering 111 internationals goals in 180 caps

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Iran’s Ali Daei comes next on the list with an impressive tally of 109 goals. The Iranian has held the record since March 2006, when he notched his final international goal against Costa Rica.

Malaysian’s Mokhtar Dahari makes up the top three with a total of 89 international goals, before his ultimately death at the age of 37 owing to motor neurone disease.

Hungarian football legend Ferenc Puskás comes into fourth place with 82 goals, before Zambian striker Godfrey Chitalu completes the top five all-time international goalscorers with 79 goals.

England’s Wayne Rooney lies in 35th place with a total of 53 goals, with Scotland’s Kenny Dalglish and Denis Law coming in joint 103rd with 30 goals each.

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