Cristiano Ronaldo is just one goal away from reaching an astonishing 700 in his career and could hit that milestone against Ukraine on Monday night.
The Juventus superstar’s clever lob against Luxembourg on Friday saw him take his senior tally for club and country to 699 goals, as Portugal edged closer to Euro 2020.
Should he find the net against Andriy Shevchenko’s side, Ronaldo will become just the sixth footballer to have scored 700 times in history.
He would join Josef Bican, Romario, Pele, Ferenc Puskas and Gerd Muller in the 700 club and is 26 goals ahead of great rival Lionel Messi, who is on 672.
Bican scored 805 times in 530 matches between 1931 and 1950, while Brazil legends Romario and Pele scored 772 and 767 respectively.
Puskas, the legendary Real Madrid and Hungary striker, bagged 746 times and clinical German forward Muller hit 735 goals for club and country.
In 2017, he left his current team-mate, Gianluigi Buffon, lost for words when his acrobatic goal helped Real Madrid beat the Serie A side in the Champions League quarter-final.
It was voted goal of the tournament and Buffon is just glad Ronaldo now plays for Juve
“After 25 seconds or so of the usual frustration you get when you concede a goal, I thought about what he had done to me, which was a really special goal. And I asked him: ‘Cristiano, how old are you again?’ And he replied: ‘Not bad for a 33-year-old eh? We both ended up laughing.”
Ronaldo, 34, will also have one eye on the all-time international record as he closes in on ex-Iran striker Ali Daei’s total.
So far he has 94 goals for Portugal since making his debut in 2003 and 161 caps later, he could become just the second player to reach a century of strikes for their nation after Daei, who tops the list with 109.
Such is Ronaldo’s exploits, former club Sporting Lisbon are considering naming their stadium after him.
Sporting president Frederico Varandas said: “Calling the stadium ‘Cristiano Ronaldo’ is an option that, right now, we are not against.
Top goalscorers in football history
1. Josef Bican – 805 goals
2. Romario – 772
3. Pele – 767
4. Ferenc Puskas – 746
5. Gerd Muller – 735
6. Cristiano Ronaldo – 699 *
7. Lionel Messi – 672 *
* – Still active
“It would be a source of great pride for us. Cristiano Ronaldo is and always will be one of the great symbols in the club’s history.
“We are very proud to be associated with Cristiano and that the name of the best player of the world is associated with Sporting.
“We want him to be an example for those in our academy, we want his image to be present in the lives of our young players.”
Sporting’s stadium is currently called the Estadio Jose Alvalade, which is named after the club’s founder.
