Cristiano Ronaldo is now just 15 goals away from reaching 1,000 goals, the landmark he has openly targeted as the defining achievement of the last years of his career. It now becomes his final challenge following his announcement that he’ll retire from the Portugal national team.
At 41, the question is no longer whether Ronaldo can reach the four-figure mark. It is how long it will take him to get there.
The Portuguese superstar remains prolific for Al-Nassr, having taken his tally to 985 with a hat-trick in a 5-3 victory over Al Kholood on October 29th
He’s now confirmed that his 23-year international career is over, announcing his decision in an emotional farewell message to Portugal’s supporters.
“The time has come to hang up our national team’s number 7 shirt,” Ronaldo wrote, admitting that it had not been an easy decision.
That leaves Al-Nassr as his only remaining route to the 1,000-goal milestone, barring any change of heart over his international retirement or a farewell appearance for Portugal.
We’ve crunched the numbers and mapped out the various scenarios.
“I want to reach 1,000 goals,” Ronaldo said, unveiling his last major career ambition on Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel just over two years ago.
“If I don’t have any injuries, this for me is the most important [thing], I want that. For me, the best mark that I can have in football is to reach, first, 900 goals. After, my challenge is to be at 1,000 goals.
“All the goals I have scored, they have video. They all have video. Listen, I respect all of them [Pele and Di Stefano]. And if you want more goals, I can bring them from training, too. And I will prove to the people after. They prefer this player, or this is the best one. I don’t care about that.”
Ronaldo has maintained the importance of that ambition, previously identifying it alongside winning another Nations League title as a major motivation. The latter is now off the table, but his pursuit of four figures remains very much alive.
“Both aims are important,” he said.
“One thousand goals, yes, and the national team. Winning the Nations League, the competition starts tomorrow [Thursday], it’s a new age.”
With all that in mind, here’s our calculations for when Ronaldo could potentially reach the milestone of 1000 goals in his professional career.
– Barring any major career-ending injuries, Ronaldo still looks likely to reach the milestone of a thousand goals at some point in 2027. Possibly as early as January or February, particularly if he maintains his recent scoring form.
– It’s possible that if Ronaldo enjoys a resurgence and goes on a hot streak akin to his most prolific peak at Real Madrid, he could do it before the end of the year, and his latest hat-trick suggests that isn’t entirely out of the question. He would still need 15 goals in little over two months, though.
– If you take his recent rate of scoring (27 goals in 42 appearances during the calendar year of 2026) as what he’ll likely maintain, another 24 appearances would be required to score the remaining 15 goals. That would take us through to around February or March 2027. Crucially, that calculation previously allowed for further Portugal appearances, which can no longer be taken for granted.
– There is an argument that Ronaldo could be set to improve upon that scoring rate. He’s been written off on the international stage after poor showings in the last two major summer tournaments, but he scored eight goals in nine games in the 2024-25 Nations League and a further five goals in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. Although his international career is now over, rediscover that form in the Saudi Pro League, up his rate to around 1.00 goals per game and fill his boots for Al-Nassr, and Ronaldo could conceivably reach four figures early in 2027. At that rate, he’d need just 15 more appearances.
– There is a counter-argument that Ronaldo will instead slow down in these final furlongs of his career. There had been signs of that earlier in the season, but his hat-trick against Al Kholood was a timely reminder of his enduring goalscoring prowess. His 27 goals in 42 appearances in 2026 work out at 0.64 goals per game. Maintain that rate, and he’ll need another 24 games to score the 15 goals required to reach number one thousand. That should be comfortably achievable before the end of Al-Nassr’s 2026-27 campaign, which is due to end in late May 2027.
– The biggest unknown is now how prolific Ronaldo can remain at club level. His international retirement means he’ll no longer have the opportunity to add goals in Portugal colours, although it should also give him more time to concentrate on Al-Nassr and potentially manage his workload. Whether that makes him even more prolific in Saudi Arabia is another matter.
– What kind of form he’ll show to get there is ultimately anyone’s guess. His latest hat-trick against Al Kholood, following a quieter couple of outings against Neom SC and Al Faysaly, suggests he’s still capable of producing spectacular goalscoring performances for Al-Nassr. But the end of his international career removes one variable from our projections, while leaving the exact date far from certain.
– We’ll hedge our bets and estimate that Ronaldo’s form over the coming months will be somewhere between his spectacular peak and a severe decline. He is playing in the Saudi Pro League, after all, and his team is set up to feed him chances. With no more international fixtures to factor into the equation, we’re backing him to keep ticking along for Al-Nassr. With just 15 goals left to score, and his recent hat-trick suggesting he’s finding his rhythm again, we’re sticking with February 2027 as our tentative prediction for Ronaldo’s 1,000th career goal, although the loss of potential Portugal appearances could yet push that date back.
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