Cristiano Ronaldo ends 2023 as top scorer in world football
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 54th and last goal of 2023 to wrap up a 4-1 win for Al Nassr against Al-Taawoun in the Saudi Pro League over the weekend. The 38-year-old headed home in the 92nd minute after earlier strikes by Marcelo Brozovic, Aymeric Laporte and Otavio had put Al Nassr in firm control. Ronaldo […]
Soccer Football – Arab Club Champions Cup – Final – Al Hilal v Al Nassr – King Fahd Stadium, Taif, Saudi Arabia – August 12, 2023 Al Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates with the trophy after winning the Arab Club Champions Cup final REUTERS/Stringer
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 54th and last goal of 2023 to wrap up a 4-1 win for Al Nassr against Al-Taawoun in the Saudi Pro League over the weekend.
The 38-year-old headed home in the 92nd minute after earlier strikes by Marcelo Brozovic, Aymeric Laporte and Otavio had put Al Nassr in firm control.
Ronaldo ended the game celebrating with his teammates, but he had looked far less happy in the 11th minute when a VAR review resulted in Al-Taawoun being given a penalty kick.
The referee issued Ronaldo with a yellow card for dissent before Aschraf El Mahdioui fired Al-Taawoun 1-0 up by converting the rebound after his spot-kick was saved but not held by keeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi.
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He has scored 44 goals in 50 games, since making his debut in January.
Ronaldo has also scored 10 goals in nine international matches for Portugal in 2023, meaning his overall tally for the calendar year is 54 goals in 59 matches.
Only three other players in world soccer scored 50 or more goals in 2023.
Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe netted 52 goals each, while Erling Haaland scored a round 50.
Early on this month, the Portuguese hit a significant milestone after playing his 1,200th professional match of his career.
In June, he became the first men’s player to make 200 international appearances when he featured for Portugal against Iceland, and he is also the top international goal scorer with 128 goals.
Among his club career appearance records, Ronaldo tops the list for all-time appearances in the Champions League (183), in which he represented Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.
He also became the first player in history to score 800 top-level career goals when he surpassed that total playing for Manchester United in December 2021 and has since breached the 850-goal mark.