BEVERLY HILLS, January 21, (THEWILL) – Portuguese superstar footballer and Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who is unarguably one of the best to play the sport and who has a catalogue of historical feats to his name added to that litany of accomplishments by making football history during Wednesday night’s Italian Super Cup final between Juventus and Napoli.
The 35-year-old, aging like the finest brew, is now the player with the most number of goals ever scored following his latest strike at the Sassuolo’s Mapei Stadium that helped Juve to a 2-nil victory over the visitors.
With his strike and the advantage of his enduring longevity at the highest levels of football, Ronaldo surpassed the long-standing record held by the outstandingly superb Czech goal-machine Josef Bican, who netted 759 official goals during his remarkable career between 1931-1955. That record will now belong to the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, after his 66th minute close-range finish.
Currently, the rundown of the top ten goalscorers in recorded history based on official goals is as follows:
10. Arthur Friedenreich – 554 goals
9. Ferenc Deak – 558 goals
8. Eusebio – 615 goals
7. Ferenc Puskas – 706 goals
6. Gerd Muller – 720 goals
5. Romario – 734 goals
4. Lionel Messi – 746 goals
3. Pele – 757 goals
2. Josef Bican – 759 goals
1. Cristiano Ronaldo – 760 goals
The sheer firepower of gifted individuals included in the list makes Ronaldo’s feat more remarkable than ever. If there were football fans that still doubted his status as, if not the Greatest of all time, but one of the Greatest ever, this gives credence to him staking that claim for himself.
Yet, it must be said that there remain those who argue that the honour of highest scoring striker must still be credited to Bican, the Rapid Vienna and Slavia Prague legend. Their argument is founded on the notion that “Pepi” as he was fondly known actually scored 805 goals in 530 matches, for an astonishing 1.52 goals per game stats.
The discrepancy appears to centre around the fact that some historians include Bican’s efforts for Rapid’s second team, while others do not. FIFA also clarifies that 805 is an “estimated” number. That intrusion by FIFA will only keep the back and forth disputes of which player has outscored the other going for another generation.
What cannot be disputed, however, is the legendary goal-scoring prowess of Ronaldo, something he has continued to showcase from England to Spain and from Spain to Italy. Of his 760 goals, 311 were scored in La Liga, while he has 134 in the Champions League and 84 in the Premier League.
In addition, the man has a sensational 102 goals at the national level for Portugal and his 450 goals during nine productive years with Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, is a Los Blancos record all by itself.
Such is his talent for scoring that Ronaldo has scored a hattrick in a game 46 times, while on eight occasions he has celebrated four and twice five in a single game. Plus, there are 57 direct free-kicks and 133 penalties to his name.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
