Cristiano Keeps Counting: Ronaldo Scores Goal No. 981

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 981st career goal in the AFC Champions League, cutting his gap to the 1,000-goal milestone to 19.

According to Sports Three, Cristiano Ronaldo seems to be in a hurry to see the number he has been chasing for years before the 2026 calendar reaches its last page. The Portuguese superstar scored a goal in the Asian Elite League on Monday night in the match of Al-Nasr against Neftchi Ferghana of Uzbekistan and brought the number of official goals in his career to 981. Now he is only 19 goals away from reaching the goal of 1000 goals.

This goal was scored in the 42nd minute of the first half. Sadio Mane sent the ball into the penalty area from the left side, and Ayman Yahya, the Al-Nasr substitute, set up the ball for Ronaldo with a chest shot. The Portuguese captain finished the job with a spectacular spinning shot to allow Al-Nasr to score the second goal. Angelo Gabriel opened the goal for the Uzbek team earlier in the 33rd minute.

This goal was recorded in a situation where the beginning of the match had its own story. The meeting between Al-Nasr and Neftchi started about an hour later than the scheduled time due to the security alert in Riyadh, and the players and referees stayed in the dressing room for a while. Finally, when the state of emergency was announced, the match was held at the First Park Stadium.

Just three days before this match, Ronaldo scored his 980th goal in Al-Nasr's 3-0 win against Al-Dariyah. Two goals in three days has brought him one step closer to one of the biggest goals of his career.

Of course, reaching a thousand goals by the end of the year, despite the number of games ahead, is not an easy task. But for now, Ronaldo does what he's known for all these years: score goals and make the next one closer.