The all-time leading goalscorer in international football

Today (5 November 2026), aged 41, Cristiano Ronaldo officially announced his retirement from the Portuguese national team, just over a month after playing his final match for the national side.

A five-time Ballon d'Or winner, CR7 ends his international career at the top of one of football’s most impressive lists: that of the all-time leading goalscorers for national teams. With 146 goals for Portugal, he is one of only three players in history to have surpassed the 100-goal mark for his national team.

The top scorers in the history of international football:

  1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – 146 goals

  2. Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 126 goals

  3. Ali Daei (Iran) – 108 goals

  4. Sunil Chhetri (India) – 95 goals

  5. Romelu Lukaku (Belgium) – 94 goals

Ronaldo’s dominance is also evident when we look solely at Portugal: he has scored almost 100 more goals than Pauleta, who is second in the all-time rankings.

The top goalscorers in the history of the Portuguese national team:

  1. Cristiano Ronaldo – 146 goals

  2. Pauleta – 47 goals

  3. Eusébio – 41 goals

  4. Luís Figo – 32 goals

  5. Nuno Gomes / Bruno Fernandes – 29 goals each

From his first to his last goal for Portugal

The story began on 20 August 2003, when CR7 made his debut for Portugal’s senior national team at the age of 18. Just under ten months later, on 12 June 2004, he scored his first goal for the team at the age of 19.

The stage was the 2004 European Championship, held in Portugal. In the tournament’s opening match, the host nation lost 2–1 to Greece at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto. Ronaldo came on at half-time and, in stoppage time, scored his first goal in a Portugal shirt, heading home a corner taken by Luís Figo.

That was the first of 146 goals to come.

The last came in 2026, in the round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup, against Croatia at Toronto Stadium in Canada. After falling behind, Portugal won 2–1 and progressed to the quarter-finals. CR7’s equaliser, from the penalty spot, held special significance: it was his first in the knockout stages of a World Cup. It was also his 11th goal in the competition’s history, extending his lead as Portugal’s all-time top scorer in the tournament.

Little did we know that would be the last time Ronaldo would find the net whilst wearing the Portugal shirt.

CR7’s most prolific years

Since his first goal for the national team in 2004, Ronaldo has scored in every year of his international career. Not a single year has gone by without CR7 leaving his mark.

His most prolific year was 2019, when the Portuguese star, then playing for Juventus, scored 14 goals for the national team.

In which years did Cristiano Ronaldo score the most goals for Portugal?

  1. 2019 – 14 goals

  2. 2016 / 2021 – 13 goals each

  3. 2017 – 11 goals

  4. 2013 / 2023 – 10 goals each

  5. 2025 – 8 goals

  6. 2004 / 2011 / 2024 – 7 goals each

  7. 2006 / 2018 – 6 goals each

  8. 2007 / 2012 / 2014 – 5 goals each

  9. 2010 / 2015 / 2020 / 2022 / 2026 – 3 goals each

  10. 2005 – 2 goals

  11. 2008 / 2009 – 1 goal each

The top goalscorer at European Championships and World Cups

Among the major tournaments that have marked his career, the European Championship holds a special place. Ronaldo has played in six editions of the tournament (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024), scoring 14 goals in 30 matches.

This is the highest number of goals scored by any player in the competition’s history. In 2016, he also led Portugal to victory in the European Championship, the national team’s first major title.

Top scorers in the European Championships:

  1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – 14 goals

  2. Michel Platini (France) – 9 goals

  3. Alan Shearer (England) / Antoine Griezmann (France) / Álvaro Morata (Spain) / Harry Kane (England) – 7 goals each

At the World Cup, CR7 also made history. He has taken part in six tournaments (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026), becoming the first player to score goals in six different editions of the tournament.

His 11 goals make him Portugal’s all-time leading goalscorer in World Cup history.

Portuguese players with the most World Cup goals:

  1. Cristiano Ronaldo – 11 goals

  2. Eusébio – 9 goals

  3. Pauleta / Gonçalo Ramos – 4 goals each

The matches in which Ronaldo really made his opponents pay

Throughout his international career, CR7 has scored ten hat-tricks. On two of those occasions, he went one better and found the net four times in a single match.

The matches in which Cristiano Ronaldo scored the most goals for Portugal:

  • Portugal 4–2 Northern Ireland (FIFA World Cup qualifiers, 6 September 2013) – 3 goals

  • Portugal 3–2 Sweden (FIFA World Cup Qualifiers play-off, 19 November 2013) – 3 goals

  • Portugal 3–2 Armenia (Euro qualifiers, 13 June 2015) – 3 goals

  • Portugal 6–0 Andorra (FIFA World Cup qualifiers, 7 October 2016) – 4 goals

  • Portugal 6–0 Faroe Islands (FIFA World Cup qualifiers, 11 October 2016) – 3 goals

  • Portugal 3–3 Spain (FIFA World Cup, 15 June 2018) – 3 goals

  • Portugal 3–1 Switzerland (UEFA Nations League Finals, 5 June 2019) – 3 goals

  • Portugal 5–1 Lithuania (Euro qualifiers, 9 October 2019) – 4 goals

  • Portugal 6–0 Lithuania (Euro qualifiers, 14 November 2019) – 3 goals

  • Portugal 5–0 Luxembourg (FIFA World Cup qualifiers, 12 October 2021) – 3 goals

These were nights when Ronaldo took his ability to decide matches to another level. But some national teams have experienced this power even more frequently.

The teams that have suffered most at the hands of CR7

Luxembourg, the victim of Ronaldo’s most recent hat-trick for Portugal, takes top spot. The small European nation knows all too well the dangers of facing the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.

The national teams against which Cristiano Ronaldo has scored goals for Portugal:

  1. Luxembourg – 11 goals conceded

  2. Hungary – 9 goals conceded

  3. Armenia / Lithuania / Sweden – 7 goals conceded each

  4. Andorra – 6 goals conceded

  5. Latvia / Switzerland – 5 goals conceded each

  6. Bosnia and Herzegovina / Denmark / Spain / Estonia / Faroe Islands / Ireland / Netherlands / Poland – 4 goals conceded each

  7. Belgium / Croatia / Slovakia / Northern Ireland / Liechtenstein / Russia – 3 goals conceded each

  8. Germany / Saudi Arabia / Azerbaijan / Cameroon / Kazakhstan / Cyprus / Egypt / France / Ghana / Iceland / Czech Republic / Uzbekistan – 2 goals conceded each

  9. Argentina / Qatar / North Korea / Ecuador / Scotland / Finland / Greece / Iran / Israel / Morocco / New Zealand / Wales / Panama / Serbia / Ukraine – 1 goal conceded each

In total, CR7 has scored against 49 different national teams.

Even so, some have managed to escape his goals. Among them are non-European powerhouses such as Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Chile, Japan, South Korea and Mexico.

And even some major European sides can count themselves lucky never to have conceded a goal to Ronaldo: England, Italy, Turkey, Austria, Romania and Norway.

The end of an era

From his first goal, against Greece in 2004, to his last, against Croatia in 2026, Cristiano Ronaldo gave Portugal 146 reasons to celebrate. More than just records, figures and statistics, his career represents over two decades of dedication to the national team and moments that will remain forever etched in the memories of the fans.

Now, CR7’s story with Portugal comes to an end. But the goals, the triumphs and the thrills he has provided will live on. After all, some legends may stop playing, but they never stop making history.