Cristiano Ronaldo is alone at the top.
Manchester United’s star attraction scored a hat-trick Saturday against Tottenham Hotspur to become the most prolific scorer in men’s football history with 807 goals in competitive matches.
Ronaldo tied Austrian-Czech forward Josef Bican, who held the record for 67 years, with 805 goals earlier in Saturday’s game with a wicked shot from distance. The Portuguese sensation tapped home Jadon Sancho’s cross just before halftime to set a new benchmark, then added to it with a trademark header with minutes remaining to win the game for United.
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Here’s Ronaldo’s goal which made it 2-1 Manchester United.
This is career goal 806 for Ronaldo which breaks the record for most goals ever in competitive matches.
?: @peacockTV #MyPLMorning | #MUNTOT pic.twitter.com/JxenYul4it
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) March 12, 2022
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RONALDO AGAIN ?
Tottenham was level for less than three minutes ? pic.twitter.com/1NKTVKzDUf
— DAZN Canada (@DAZN_CA) March 12, 2022
World governing body FIFA previously recognized Bican – an Austrian-born striker who bagged the majority of his goals with Czech side Slavia Prague from 1937-48 – as the game’s top scorer despite claims that Brazilian icon Pele is the rightful crown-holder. Pele scored 1,279 goals in 1,363 games from 1956-77, according to Guinness World Records, but many of them came in friendly matches. Pele’s official total stands at 757 tallies.
FIFA states Bican hit 805 goals in just 530 competitive fixtures. Ronaldo, meanwhile, has 807 markers in more than 1,100 senior appearances for club and country.
Ronaldo also holds the record for most goals scored in international fixtures with 115 in 184 appearances for Portugal. The 37-year-old has notched another 692 goals across three decades with Sporting CP, Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus.