Ronaldo breaks Saudi Pro League scoring record

Cristiano Ronaldo broke the record for the most goals in a Saudi Pro League season when he struck for the 34th and 35th time in Al Nassr’s final game of the campaign.

“I don’t follow the records, the records follow me,” the 39-year-old Portuguese forward tweeted afterwards.

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star struck in first-half stoppage time and again in the 69th minute with a header as Al Nassr defeated Al Ittihad 4-2 at home on Monday.

The previous record for most goals in a single season was the 34 scored by the Moroccan Abderrazak Hamdallah in 2018-19.

Al Nassr were already assured of a second-placed finish, coming a distant 14 points behind champions Al Hilal.

Cristiano Ronaldo joined Riyadh-based Al Nassr in December 2022, the start of an influx of overseas players to the Saudi league on lucrative contracts.

Notably, the star Portuguese forward ended the year 2023 as the leading goal-scorer, leaving behind the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland.

Cristiano Ronaldo became the highest goal scorer of 2023 during his side Al-Nassr’s Saudi Pro League fixture against Al-Ittihad on December 26.

Ronaldo scored a decisive brace in his side’s 5-2 victory over Al-Ittihad which also propelled him to the top of the goal-scoring charts.

Ronaldo converted two crucial penalties in the game, lifting his tally to 53 goals and 15 assists in 58 matches.

This achievement took Cristiano Ronaldo past the 52 goals scored by Harry Kane (57 matches) and Kylian Mbappe (53 matches) while playing for Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, respectively.

Ronaldo, who led Portugal to victory at the 2016 Euros, has been selected for the squad for this year’s edition in Germany next month — his 11th international tournament.

He is the most capped player in men’s international football with 206 appearances and has scored a record 128 goals.