Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 979th official career goal during Al Nassr’s 2-1 victory over Abha Club on September 9, 2026. At 41 years old, the legend is still shattering records before hanging up his boots as he searches to reach the historic 1000 goals milestone in his career. Ronaldo kicked off his domestic campaign in 2026 with Al Nassr with a bang under new manager Ange Postecoglou. In his 5 appearances till date, he has 3 goals and broke the all-time club record to become Al Nassr’s top scorer in Saudi League history with 105 league goals.
Al-Nassr secured the 2-1 win to recover from their previous 2-1 defeat against Al-Ittihad. This made Al Nassr reach the top of the standing with 15 points. Ronaldo had an incredible game too, leading him to earn the Man of the Match. In the 22nd minute, Ronaldo headed in a corner kick from Angelo to open the scoring. Abdullah Al-Hamdan added a second goal for Al-Nassr in the 58th minute. Abha’s Nabil Fekir scored later in the match, but Al-Nassr held on for the 2-1 victory, posing a comeback.
Ronaldo’s 979th goal saw a lot of crazy maths by his followers across the world in X. One such notable one was a stat that proved the longevity of the veteran as a legend of the game.
“If a player debuted today at 18 years old, scored 40 GOALS EVERY SINGLE YEAR, and kept playing until the age of 41… He would finish with 920 career goals.” posted an X account keeping his fans and the football world in awe.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Tactical Mistake Leads to Shock Opposition Goal, Fans Stunned
Although Ronaldo grabbed the Player of the Match Award with 979 career goals, he was also the center of attention due to a different situation. During Al-Nassr’s 2-1 victory over Abha Club, Cristiano Ronaldo directed a teammate to move out of the defensive wall during a wide free-kick. The resulting gap allowed Nabil Fekir to score, leading to loads of questioning from fans and pundits in social media.
Although the decision and goal didn’t have much effect on the game, Ronaldo was heavily criticised across social media, with some pundits pointing out that leadership is not for Ronaldo, whereas some defended the fact that it was the goalkeeper’s mistake all together.
Ronaldo is the first and only player in football history to score 100+ goals for four different clubs (Real Madrid, Manchester United, Juventus, and Al Nassr) and his country
