“I Don’t Follow the Records, the Records Follow Me,” An Elated Cristiano Celebrates Break The Saudi Pro League Goalscoring Record

When the final whistle blew in the matchday 33 contest against Al Riyadh, Cristiano Ronaldo had failed to score and remained two goals away from the all-time goalscoring record in a single season. With only one match left, you’d be forgiven to doubt he’d break Abderrazak Hamdallah’s record of 34 goals, but Cristiano Ronaldo is no mere mortal.

With 33 goals to his name, the five-time Ballon d’Or and four-time European Golden Shoe winner started the season’s final match against last season’s champions, Al Ittihad, needing two goals.

With the match being a dead rubber, the first half was dull, with no clear chances created. Just as the teams were heading into halftime, Cristiano Ronaldo latched onto a Mohammed Al Fatil pass, then shot with his left foot to make it 1-0, equalling Hamdallah’s record. It was poetic that he did this against Hamdallah’s current club while donning the jersey of the club Hamdallah played for when he set the record.

In the second half, Cristiano rose high to meet a Marcelo Brozovic cross, headed it home to make it 2-0, and officially claimed the record for most goals scored in a single Saudi Pro League season. The game ended 4-2 in favor of Al Nassr, with Abdulrahman Ghareeb scoring a penalty for Al Nassr, Farhah Al Shamrani and Fabinho scoring a goal each for Al Ittihad and Meshari Al Nemer scoring the final goal of the match.

After the match, Cristiano Ronaldo shared on X (formerly Twitter), “I don’t follow the records; the records follow me.” With this record, Ronaldo has now been crowned the top scorer in not just one but four different leagues: Portugal (Sporting Lisbon), England (Manchester United), Italy (Juventus), and Saudi Arabia (Al Nassr).

The Portuguese captain will be heading into Euro 2024 with a skip in his step, hoping to lead his team to glory for what might be the last time.