It’s official! Cristiano Ronaldo awarded Guinness World Records certificate confirming him as top goalscorer in men’s international football on 111 goals after finally beating Ali Daei’s record
- Guinness World Records has confirmed Ronaldo as the all-time men’s international goalscorer
- Ronaldo beat Ali Daei’s 109-goal record, taking his tally to 111 against Ireland
- Ronaldo, 36, posted an image of himself with his new Guinness certificate
Cristiano Ronaldo’s position as the newly-crowned highest goalscorer in men’s international football was confirmed after he received a certificate from Guinness World Records.
The Portugal forward has long been chasing down Iranian Ali Daei’s seemingly impossible record of 109 international goals, and drew level with him at Euro 2020 earlier this year.
But Ronaldo finally broke Daei’s record on Wednesday night after coming to Portugal’s rescue in trademark style by scoring two late headers to secure a 2-1 victory over Ireland in their World Cup qualifier.
Ronaldo broke the record for the most goals in men’s international football on Wednesday
Ronaldo, 36, posed with his new Guinness World Records certificate confirming his record
Ironically, Ronaldo had the chance to take the record earlier in the game but saw his penalty saved.
Ronaldo took to Instagram on Friday, posting a picture of himself posing with the Guinness certificate confirming his spectacular achievement, and his comment suggested he wasn’t done scoring for Portugal.
‘Thank you to the Guiness (sic) World Records,’ he wrote. ‘Always good to be recognised as a world record breaker. Let’s keep trying to set the numbers even higher!’
Iran legend Daei took to social media to praise Ronaldo’s achievement in breaking his record, hailing the Portuguese’s ‘humility and kindness’.
On breaking the record, Ronaldo posted a message thanking Daei ‘for holding the record for so long and thanks for always showing so much respect for me every time I scored and as I became closer and closer to his outstanding number’.
Ronaldo has cemented his position as Portugal’s greatest ever player, having astonishingly scored more than twice the number of goals as the nation’s next highest scorer – Pauleta with 47.
Iran legend Ali Daei praised Ronaldo breaking his record, saying ‘long may your record last!’
Ronaldo’s 111 goals is more than double Portugal’s next highest goalscorer – Pauleta with 47
Even the legendary Eusebio, who managed 41 goals, is left trailing in Ronaldo’s wake, and the 36-year-old looks far from finished.
Providing he remains fit, he will almost certainly feature in Portugal’s four remaining World Cup qualifiers, and there are also two upcoming friendlies against Qatar, the first being played on Sunday.
Having just made a stunning return to Manchester United, it is clear Ronaldo has his sights set on a full season of domestic football ahead of next year’s World Cup in Qatar, which takes place in November.
With Portugal looking very likely to qualify, it seems Ronaldo will significantly extend Daei’s record and have it stand for a very long time to come.
However, even Ronaldo would have to do something almost miraculous to chase down the all-time international goal-scoring record held by Canadian female footballer Christine Sinclair, who has scored 187 goals in 304 games for her country.
