Football
Anirudh Menon 4y

Cristiano Ronaldo's 101 with Portugal: 9 hat tricks, 24 headers, 49 after 30

Cristiano Ronaldo, eh? After seeing Lionel Messi grab all the headlines over the summer transfer window, Ronaldo decided that it was his time to take the spotlight, and he did just that last night in Stockholm. Overcoming a bee sting (no, really), he started for Portugal against Sweden in the UEFA Nations League, and scored a rather spectacular brace. In doing so, he created a little bit of history, hitting not one, but two goals to get to the 100-goal landmark.

101

Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored 101 goals for Portugal in 165 games. ONE HUNDRED AND ONE!

He is just the second man in the history of the game to hit more than 100 career international goals, after Iran's Ali Daei (who has 109) and is the first European ever to hit three figures (next closest is Ferenc Puskas, with 84).

It is also, easily, the most internationals goals scored by a currently active player. Behind him are India's Sunil Chhetri(72) and that man from Argentina (70).

To mark this century, By the numbers takes a look at some of the best stats from CR7's international career --

7

With his brace today, Ronaldo has scored 7 goals vs Sweden. That's tied for the most against a single opponent (with Lithuania).

9/4

Ronaldo is tied with France's Michel Platini for the most goals at a UEFA European Championship (final tournament), with 9. The next closest is England's Alan Shearer with 7.

Ronaldo is, though, the only person to have scored at 4 different Euros.

9 vs. 7

Ronaldo has scored 9 hat tricks for Portugal. This is tied for the most international hat tricks by a European man - with Sweden's Sven Rydell (who played between 1923-1932).

To put this in context - no one that took the field for Portugal against Sweden last night has scored more than a total of 7 international goals (Pepe).

10

Ronaldo is the only European player to score in ten consecutive international tournaments (4 x Euros, 4 x World Cups, 1 x Confederations Cup, 1 x Nations League).

24 vs. 16

This is Ronaldo's 24th brace for Portugal. The man has more braces for his nation than any of the other members of the current 23-man Portugal squad have goals. Andre Silva is the next highest scorer, and he has 16.

30

30 of Ronaldo's 101 goals for Portugal have come in World Cup qualifiers (35 games). That's a record for a UEFA player. The next closest is Ukraine's Andriy Shevchenko with 26.

31

31 of his 101 have come in UEFA Euro qualifiers (38 games). That's a record. The next closest is the Republic of Ireland's Robbie Keane, with 23.

1.04 vs. 0.44

This is probably the most astonishing stat of them all: 

Goals scored by Ronaldo before turning 30 - 52 in 118 at 0.44 a game.

Goals scored by Ronaldo after turning 30 - 49 in 47 at 1.04 a game!

Ronaldo has scored more goals as a 30+ year old than Sergio Aguero has in his whole international career (41). Yeah, Ali Daei's world record is not going to stand for much longer, is it?

How has Ronaldo scored his goals?

Split by venue

Home - 47 goals; Away - 37 goals; Neutral - 15 goals

(Note - Euro 2004 and the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals, both played in Portugal, have been treated as home matches)

Split by anatomy

Right foot - 55 goals; Head - 24 goals; Left foot - 22 goals

Split by shot style

Open play - 67 goals; Penalty - 24 goals; Direct free kicks - 10 goals

Split by result - (When Ronaldo scores, Portugal's results are Win - 55, Loss - 6, Draw - 5)

Wins - 87 goals; Losses - 6 goals; Draws - 8 goals

(Stats courtesy: ESPN Stats and Information Group)

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