Cristiano Ronaldo international goal record: Portugal star’s brace vs Ireland puts him above Iranian legend Ali Daei
CRISTIANO RONALDO BEAT the international goals world record in Portugal’s World Cup 2022 qualifier with Ireland tonight.
The Portugal captain, 36, is now up to it 111 – meaning he’s ABOVE Iranian legend Ali Daei’s record.
The iconic attacker reached the mark in Portugal’s thrilling 2-1 win against Ireland, on Wednesday night, where he scored two late goals.
Ronaldo has been bearing down on the record for some time now, having scored his 100th Portugal goal against Sweden in September 2020.
The Juventus star equalled this summer in the Euros after smashing two penalties past France.
But he failed to surpass the record in Portugal’s 1-0 defeat to Belgium in the last-16 of the competition.
Daei notched an incredible 109 goals in 140 appearances for Iran, before retiring from the game in 2006.
His record has stood for an impressive 14 years, and not even Lionel Messi or Neymar have come anywhere near it.
“All records must be broken and I will beat that record,” Ronaldo said before he scored twice against Sweden.
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Also below Ronaldo in the scoring charts is Hungary legend Ferenc Puskas, who tallied up an astonishing 84 goals in just 85 apps.
Following Ronaldo’s breaking of the century barrier, his ex-Manchester United team-mate Rio Ferdinand called the achievement ‘crazy’.
Ferdinand said: “Some players don’t even get 100 goals in their whole career.
“This isn’t even about your club goals, this is just the national team. It’s crazy.”
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