Cristiano Ronaldo's goal-scoring record: Ranking the all-time top scorers despite discussions on total goals

Cristiano Ronaldo's career has been defined by his ability to consistently achieve the unimaginable with a ruthless efficiency in front of goal.

The 39-year-old has sent goalscoring records tumbling throughout his trophy-laden career, becoming the top marksman in the history of both Real Madrid and the Portugal national team.

And thanks to a career of goal scoring, Ronaldo now has the all-time record for most goals in the history of men's football, as recognized by FIFA. He set the new mark on March 12, 2022 after a hat-trick for Manchester United and hasn't looked back since.

He is now bagging goals for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia to further stretch his lead atop the list of best-ever male scorers. He's still scoring for the Portuguese national team as well, netting his latest international goal in October 2023.

MORE: List of top all-time international goalscorers: Ronaldo, Messi and others

The Sporting News reached out to FIFA to confirm the list, but the world governing body said it does not keep an official list of the statistics of the goals scored by individual players. That hasn't stopped other outlets, including Goal.com, from listing the following top 10 "FIFA-recognized goals" totals:

RankingPlayerGoals 1.Cristiano Ronaldo8972.Lionel Messi8383.Josef Bican8054.Romario7725.Pele7576.Ferenc Puskas7467.Gerd Muller7348.Ferenc Deak5769.Uwe Seeler5759.Tulio Maravilha575

*Goals only in official matches, not including friendlies and exhibition

Stats correct as of August 17, 2024

MORE: Updated list of Premier League top scorers

Ronaldo FIFA goals record

Ronaldo's goal-scoring exploits have had his fans — and some teammates — naming him the sport's ultimate 'GOAT'.

The @Cristiano ♥️ pic.twitter.com/Xju55IYVfA

— Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) March 12, 2022

However, the record itself is open to interpretation, with some football historians claiming it is impossible to know for certain due to the lack of accurate recording keeping in pre-20th century football.

Ronaldo has overtook previous record holder Josef Bican, who scored an incredible 805 goals in the 24 years between 1931 and 1955. Ronaldo is in the 21st season of his career having played his first season as a pro in 2002/03.

But there is still plenty of dispute over Bican's actual numbers, with the late Brazilian icon Pele also claiming to have scored more than 1,000 career goals — though that total includes friendlies.

MORE: Top Champions League goal scorers

No consensus on goals world record for men

In terms of accepted recognition, Ronaldo has now established himself as the 'top goal scorer in recognized FIFA games', but the argument will rage on.

The Czech FA have regularly disputed Bican's figure of 805 with claims that he actually scored 821 when the final tallies were recorded.

The best goalscorer in football history?

The History and Statistics committee of the Czech FA counted all the goals scored by the legendary Josef Bican and we can declare he scored 821 goals in official matches.

Jaroslav Kolář, the Head of the committee shares more details. pic.twitter.com/eYqTcGJf1p

— Czech Football National Team (@ceskarepre_eng) January 21, 2021

Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have also surpassed that total and have record keepers on their side. The duo's figures are indisputable and not connected with amateur football, as some of Pele's goals are.

Bican's numbers illustrate the information gap between national federations and world-governing body FIFA, with his domestic supporters claiming the higher number is accurate. FIFA stated they could both be wrong with a possible total of 823, as per reports from ESPN.

Pele long claimed that his goal-scoring total was a whopping 1,283 – significantly higher than the 'official number' placed at 757. But there was never any clear proof to back up Pele's number.

I have scored 1283 goals in my life,

— Pelé (@Pele) September 25, 2015

FIFA and South American body CONMEBOL have previously registered Pele with 1,281 goals in 1,363 games, but these include youth, friendly, and non-official games, which Ronaldo's figure does not include.

According to the authoritative and widely cited RSSSF organization (Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation), their totals and rankings are also different.

The situation is made even more complicated by the Guinness Book of World Records, who hold Pele as the record setter, but with 1,279 goals, as exhibition goals are not prohibited by their count.

.@Pele has the most football career goals at 1,279! Stick to your passions everyone: https://t.co/45XlIquRbn pic.twitter.com/9a8XMsQKQj

— Guinness World Records (@GWR) August 30, 2016

One way to interpret this jumble of information: Ronaldo is the new leader as far as 'goals in official games' with Pele's disputed numbers giving him an edge in 'overall games' including exhibitions.

Where has Ronaldo scored his goals?

Ronaldo has scored roughly half of his goals at Real Madrid with 450.

He's bagged 145 at Manchester United, as well as 130 with the Portugal national team, 101 with Juventus and five with first club Sporting CP. He has 66 goals for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia.

In 2022/23 he finished fifth in the Saudi Pro League scoring table, despite joining in midseason. One season before, his 18 Premier League goals in 2021/22 were good for third in England's top division. In 2020/21, he finished as top scorer at Euro 2021 as well as in the Italian Serie A season with Juventus (29 goals).

There may be plenty more goals coming to add to that grand total given Ronaldo set a new goal-scoring record of 35 in the Saudi Pro League for the 2023/24 season.

TeamGoals Real Madrid450Manchester United145Portugal national team130Juventus101Al Nassr66Sporting CP5TOTAL897