AFCON 2025
Cristiano Ronaldo is 15 goals away from reaching a phenomenal 1000 career goals after scoring a hat-trick on Thursday night. The embattled Portuguese legendary forward scored a 15-minute hat-trick to lift Al Nassr to a 5-3 win over Al Kholood in the Saudi Pro League. The treble took his career tally to 985 goals.
Al Kholood’s Julien Domingues put the visitors ahead in the 16th minute. Ângelo Gabriel levelled for Al Nassr, and Sadio Mané gave the hosts the lead before the break.
Al Kholood pegged them back, and Ronaldo took over. Two of his earlier efforts had gone in off the board and then came back for offside.
He struck in the 66th minute after a João Félix assist, then headed home another Félix delivery in the 72nd. He completed the hat-trick in the 81st minute, converting a pass from Mané.
Domingues pulled one back with a penalty in the 94th minute, and Al Nassr held on to win. Félix finished the night with four assists.
It was the 41-year-old’s 67th career hat-trick and his seventh for Al Nassr. Lionel Messi has 62.
The performance came a day after Ronaldo beat Messi in a public vote to win the Ballon d’Or of All Time award, which fans decided on the official Ballon d’Or website. His 2008 triumph, the first of his five Ballons d’Or, took the title of the greatest single Ballon d’Or win in history. He now needs 15 goals to reach 1,000.
