The year was 2003 when up-and-coming football promise Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) was described as “one of the most exciting young players I’d ever seen” by Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.

Today, he’s the top-scorer player in the world.

The Portuguese football player has broken the record for most goals scored in international soccer matches (male) during the Portugal vs Ireland match played on 1 September 2021 at the Algarve Stadium (Portugal) in a 2:1 win scoring his 111th International goal.

Previously, Ronaldo shared the record with Ali Daei (Iran), who scored 109 goals between 1993 and 2006. Against Ireland, a few minutes before the end of the match, Ronaldo broke his own record with the striking number of 111 goals.

This is far from Ronaldo’s first time lifting the silverware (or a Guinness World Records certificate!), though.

With 134 goals, the striker also holds the title for most Champions League goals, as well as most goals in aUEFA Champions League season by an individual (17) and most goals scored in the football (soccer) UEFA European Championships including qualifying matches (23).

He is also the highest-rated player in FIFA 18, with an overall rate of 99% – 1% ahead of Lionel Messi and Pelé, both runners-up at 98%.

He holds the record for most followers for an athlete on Twitter, as well as most followers on Instagram for an athlete. His Instagram account, @Cristiano, is also the overall most followed account on Instagram, beating Selena Gomez’s 120,135,089 followers in 2017.

As a legend of international football, Ronaldo’s Wikipedia page has had 112,000,000 views, the most viewed Wikipedia page for an athlete (male).

Furthermore, as of April 2021, he received the most likes for an athlete on Facebook, with a remarkable number of 124,726,150 thumbs up.

Goal after goal, Ronaldo has won over the hearts of football fans regardless of teams and matches, winning with Portugal the UEFA European Championship 2016 against France and UEFA Nations League 2019. For the latter, Ronaldo raised the Alipay Top Scorer Trophy.

A series of triumphs that secured his position in the Olympus of Sports.

He became the only footballer to earn over $1 billion in their career and confirmed himself as one of the most sought-after, acclaimed, and successful athletes of all time. In 2018, Ronaldo moved to Juventus, the Turin-based club that has seen a steady rise after Ronaldo – quite literally – entered the field.

What is certain, however, is that Cristiano Ronaldo made history at the Algarve Stadium. His latest accolade has further cemented him as one of the greatest footballers in history.

Source : Eleonora Pilastro @Guinness world Record.