Cristiano Ronaldo ends 2023 as highest goal-scorer: Decoding his stats
Portuguese goal machine Cristiano Ronaldo netted a late goal in Al-Nassr's 4-1 thumping against Al-Taawoun on December 30. As a result, Ronaldo ended the year as the world's top scorer, slamming home his 54th goal of 2023. It is indeed a remarkable achievement for the 38-year-old as he prevailed over some of the European stalwarts in their prime. Ronaldo's excellent 2023 campaign was magical.
Why does this story matter?
Ronaldo is a proper goal-scorer and after dominating different European leagues, the Portuguese legend has taken Saudi Arabia by storm. He has settled nicely at Al-Nassr and has been scoring goals for fun even at the twilight of his career. Ronaldo is still competing with his European counterparts in terms of goals tally. The 39-year-old veteran registered exceptional numbers in 2023.
Most goals in 2023
Ronaldo scored 44 goals for Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr and managed another 10 for his national team Portugal. His tally of 54 goals came in 59 matches this year. Ronaldo prevailed over Bayern Munich's Harry Kane and Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe (both 52 goals). While Manchester City's Erling Haaland finished with 50 goals.
A fifth instance of finishing the year as leading goal-scorer
This was Ronaldo's fifth instance of finishing as the world's leading goal-scorer after achieving the feat in 2011 (60), 2013 (69), 2014 (61) and 2015 (57) during his time at Real Madrid. However, his 54 goals are the most he has scored in a calendar year since netting 55 goals in 2016, the year he won one of his five Ballon d'Or titles.
Decoding his goals scored in 2023
Ronaldo netted 10 goals for Portugal, all of them came in the 2024 Euro Qualifiers. He netted 34 goals in as many appearances for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League. Ronaldo slammed home three goals in five AFC Champions League fixtures while scoring six goals in the Arab Club Champions Cup. He has also scored once in the King's Cup.
Second-highest goal-scorer in the 2024 Euro Qualifiers
The 38-year-old veteran finished the 2024 Euro Qualifiers with 10 goals from nine qualifying games. He was the second-highest goal-scorer in the qualifying campaign, only behind Belgian marksman Romelu Lukaku, who hammered 14 goals from only eight qualifying matches. France superstar Mbappe finished third with nine goals from eight qualifying fixtures while England captain Kane was just behind with eight strikes.
Highest goal-scorer in the 2023-24 Saudi Pro League
Ronaldo leads the goals tally in the 2023-24 Saudi Pro League with 20 goals from 18 matches. He has also provided nine assists this season. Overall, he has netted four goals from the spot while the rest have come from open play. Al-Hilal's Aleksandar Mitrovic is second on the list with 17 goals while Damac's Georges-Kevin Nkoudou is in third position with 14 strikes.
