Cristiano Ronaldo scores 981st career goal, 19 short of 1,000, in Al Nassr win
Al Nassr beat Neftchi Fergana 3-1 in Riyadh on Monday, 12 October, and Ronaldo's 42nd-minute goal took his career tally to 981. He needs 19 more to reach 1,000 official goals.
Al Nassr win in Riyadh
Al Nassr beat Neftchi Fergana 3-1 at their home ground in Riyadh on Monday, 12 October, in the group stage of the AFC Champions League Elite. Angelo opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, and Cristiano Ronaldo doubled the lead in the 42nd, so Al Nassr led 2-0 at halftime. Alisher Odilov pulled one back for the Uzbek side in the 51st minute. Anvarjon Gofurov's own goal in the 78th minute made it 3-1 and settled the match. Ronaldo had also scored on Friday, 9 October, in the Saudi League against Al Dirhyad, as shown in the timeline below.
- Ronaldo scores for Al Nassr against Al Dirhyad in the Saudi League
- Angelo scores the first goal for Al Nassr against Neftchi Fergana
- Ronaldo scores his 981st career goal, Al Nassr lead 2-0
- Alisher Odilov scores for Neftchi Fergana, 2-1
- Anvarjon Gofurov scores an own goal, Al Nassr lead 3-1
Ronaldo's goal
Ronaldo's strike came from a cross by Sadio Mané on the left, with Ayman Yahya controlling the ball on his chest before Ronaldo finished with a powerful half-turn shot. It was his 981st career goal and his fifth for Al Nassr this season. The goal was his second in consecutive matches, following the one on Friday. Nineteen more goals would take him to 1,000, a mark he wants to reach as the first player in history to pass 1,000 official goals across club and national-team matches. The win moved Al Nassr's group-stage campaign forward with a second straight home victory in the competition's early rounds.
Dispute with Portugal
The scoring came while Ronaldo is caught in a dispute with the Portugal national team, which followed a row with coach Jorge Jesus during Nations League matches. He had left Portugal's preparation camp after the row. The Portuguese football federation's non-professional section first opened urgent disciplinary proceedings against him, then formalised a precautionary suspension and sent the case file to the disciplinary investigation commission. The decision from the disciplinary body was still awaited, and the process could lead to a ban of several months from the national team. The goal came as the row was dominating the media coverage in Portugal.
Saudi backdrop
Before kickoff, which was delayed by several minutes by a Saudi Civil Protection security alert, Ronaldo was filmed kissing the Saudi emblem on his shirt. After the final whistle he asked fans for a scarf with the Saudi flag, draped it over his shoulders during the celebrations and led a 'viking clap' with Sadio Mané. The club posted the footage on its social media, alongside a line from Ronaldo saying he is Portuguese but belongs to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The gesture came as Houthi rebels, Yemeni fighters backed by Iran, had intensified missile and drone attacks on Riyadh in the days before, particularly on King Khalid International Airport. A Houthi attack on Riyadh airport, which the reports place on Saturday, 10 October, left 13 dead and more than 300 wounded at the time of reporting. The toll was described as the deadliest on Saudi territory in over a decade.
What comes next
Ronaldo now needs 19 goals to reach 1,000 official career goals, a total that counts club and national-team matches. The disciplinary decision in Portugal was still pending when the reports were published. Whether it results in a ban from the national team remains open.
