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Cristiano Ronaldo already revealed he will not retire from football until he scores his 1,000th career goal. The 41-year-old is currently on goal number 973 and failed to add to the total during Portugal’s 1-1 draw with DR Congo in their World Cup 2026 opener.
The Portugal captain is without a goal in his last 10 appearances in international tournaments, but remains potent as ever at club level with Al-Nassr. The striker scored 30 goals in 37 games across all competitions this season and announced his chase for the unprecedented milestone last December.
After being named the Best Middle East Player at the Globe Soccer Awards, he said: “It’s hard to continue playing, but I am motivated. My passion is high and I want to continue. It doesn’t matter where I play, whether in the Middle East or Europe.
“I always enjoy playing football and I want to keep going. You know what my goal is. I want to win trophies and I want to reach that number [1,000 goals] that you all know. I will reach the number for sure, if no injuries.”
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Should he remain on his current trajectory, the Manchester United legend will likely reach the 1,000 figure, but that hasn’t stopped him from coming under fire for his performance on Wednesday. Ronaldo became only the second player, after Lionel Messi earlier that day, to compete in a record sixth World Cup tournament.
“Because he wants to score, he goes into the path of Bruno Fernandes. If he goes into the six-yard box, you’ve been in that situation, Alexi [Lalas, fellow pundit], you would have had to follow him. Then it would have been a tap-in for Bruno Fernandes.”
Citing another in-game situation, he added: “Because he wants to score, he goes in the path of the backpass. You see both players and it’s easier for you to defend. And that’s my thing, the team needs to score, not you.”
