History calls again as Cristiano Ronaldo edges ever closer to surpassing Ali Daei as international football’s record goalscorer.
It’s only a matter of time before Ronaldo adds another prestigious record to his name as international football’s highest goalscorer.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner broke the 100-goal mark in a 2-0 win over Sweden in September. He scored a brilliant brace in the Friends Arena and has since bagged 102 goals in 170 appearances.
Now it’s a question of not if, but when he’ll overtake Ali’s record?
The Iran legend scored 109 goals in 149 appearances before hanging up his boots in 2006. Nobody believed his record could be broken either. And who could blame them? Pele, Diego Maradona, and many other greats never scored so many goals for their national teams.
“All records must be broken and I will beat that record,” announced Ronaldo.
True to his word, the Portuguese ace is close to doing just that with just seven goals between him and Ali.
He has a chance to close that gap over the upcoming week as Portugal face Azerbaijan in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday. Trips to Serbia on Saturday and Luxembourg next Tuesday come next.
Top 10 international scorers in football history
| Pos | Player | Nation | Caps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ali Daei | Iran | 149 | 109 |
| 2. | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 170 | 102 |
| 3. | Mokhtar Dahari | Malaysia | 131 | 86 |
| 4. | Ferenc Puscas | Hungary | 85 | 84 |
| 5. | Godfrey Chitalu | Zambia | 111 | 79 |
| 6. | Hussein Saeed | Iraq | 137 | 78 |
| 7. | Pele | Brazil | 92 | 77 |
| 8. | Kunishige Kamamoto | Japan | 76 | 75 |
| =8 | Bashar Abdullah | Kuwait | 134 | 75 |
| 10. | Sunil Chhetri | India | 115 | 72 |
| =10 | Majed Abdullah | Kuwait | 117 | 72 |
The European championships, friendlies and more World Cup qualifiers will follow this year.
So who’s to say Ronaldo won’t bag this one?
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