Cristiano Ronaldo is closing in on one of football’s most remarkable milestones, although his latest step towards 1,000 career goals has prompted an unexpected dispute. The Portuguese forward celebrated during Al Nassr’s victory over Al Faisaly, but the ball’s final touch raised questions about whether he had scored or a defender had put it into his own net. The league’s official ruling, however, has kept Ronaldo’s tally intact.
Al Nassr beat Al Faisaly 3-1 at King Salman Sport City Stadium on Friday, October 23, with Ronaldo appearing to double his side’s lead shortly after half-time. The 41-year-old rose to meet a free kick from João Félix in the 49th minute, but the ball deflected off Al Faisaly defender Andrei Girotto before crossing the line. Ronaldo immediately celebrated with his trademark ‘Siu’ and later posted a photograph of the moment on Instagram, captioned: “Let’s go!” The goal came after Abdullah Al-Hamdan had opened the scoring early in the match. Al Faisaly’s Théo Bongonda pulled one back before Ângelo Gabriel scored late to seal the victory.
The uncertainty centres on whether Ronaldo made a decisive touch with his head before Girotto’s intervention. While the Saudi Pro League credited the strike to Ronaldo, third-party data providers, including ESPN's stats provider, Opta, have classified it as an own goal. Sofascore and other football-rating applications have also listed the incident differently, creating a discrepancy between the league’s records and some widely used statistical platforms. The defender’s deflection was clear, but the available accounts differ over whether Ronaldo’s contact was sufficient to award him the goal. That distinction matters to supporters following Ronaldo’s pursuit of 1,000 career goals, particularly with the milestone now within reach.
Despite the disagreement among data providers, the Saudi Pro League has accepted the match referee’s official report and credited Ronaldo with the goal. Under the league’s records, his career tally therefore stands at 982, leaving him 18 goals short of 1,000.
The ruling settles how the goal is recorded in the competition’s official statistics, even though some independent databases continue to show an own goal. The discrepancy has not changed Ronaldo’s official total following Friday’s match.
The goal also marked Ronaldo’s return to club scoring after he received a 30-day suspension and a fine of €255 ($286) earlier this week. The punishment followed his departure from Portugal’s national-team camp during October’s international break amid a dispute with head coach Jorge Jesus. Al Nassr’s win was their eighth league victory of the campaign, keeping them in the Saudi Pro League title race alongside Al Qadsiah and Al Hilal. Ronaldo’s latest strike has brought him closer to the career milestone, with the official league record counting it in his favour despite the continuing debate over the final touch.
