Cristiano Ronaldo Moves Within Six of Men's International Goal Record

Ronaldo scored in a 3-1 win over Luxembourg to pull within six of Iranian great Ali Daei's men's international record.

With his goal in a 3-1 World Cup qualifying win against Luxembourg on Tuesday, Cristiano Ronaldo pulled to within six goals of the men's international scoring record of 109 goals set by Iranian striker Ali Daei.

With Portugal locked in a 1-1 draw with Luxembourg in the 50th minute, Ronaldo made a perfectly timed run to the back post, where he tapped home a cross from Manchester City fullback Joao Cancelo to give Portugal the lead. 

Cristiano Ronaldo pulls within six of Ali Daei’s men’s international scoring record and gives Portugal the lead 🇵🇹

(via @espnfc)pic.twitter.com/4OfoasdrBD

— SI Soccer (@si_soccer) March 30, 2021

It was Ronaldo's 103rd international goal and first in his last 415 minutes played, his longest international goalscoring drought since the summer of 2012. 

Ronaldo missed a clear chance at a second later in the second half when he was gifted an errant back pass from the Luxembourg defense. The Juventus star had plenty of space and only the keeper to beat, but sent an uncharacteristically weak shot directly at goalkeeper Anthony Moris, who followed the first chance up with another close-range save. 

Luxembourg tried to hand Ronaldo career international goal No. 104, but he somehow doesn't oblige 😳

(via @ESPNFC) pic.twitter.com/nJhOEEaprA

— SI Soccer (@si_soccer) March 30, 2021

The goal comes after a turbulent week of World Cup qualifiers for Ronaldo and Portugal. On Saturday against Serbia, Ronaldo stormed off the field in stoppage time after his potential match-winner was denied by referee Danny Makkelie, who later apologized for the error. 

The captain's armband that Ronaldo threw during his outburst has since been put up for auction by a charity group looking to raise money for the surgery of a six-month-old boy in Serbia with spinal muscular atrophy.