Move over Ferenc Puskas, CR7 is No. 2 now. With the Cristiano Ronaldo goal vs Morocco, a powerful header off a corner kick four minutes into the match on Wednesday, the Portuguese star became the second all-time leading goal scorer in the history of men's international soccer.
Ronaldo and Puskas were tied with 84 goals apiece after the former’s hat trick against Spain on Friday. But Ronaldo didn’t wait long on Wednesday against Morocco to break that tie.
In the fourth minute, on Portugal’s second corner of the match, Ronaldo found a pocket of space and made no mistake with Bernardo Silva’s inviting cross.
#MundialTelemundo Así lo narró @AndresCantorGOL ¿Quién más sino @Cristiano ? Gran remate de cabeza para adelantar a #POR en el marcador frente a #MAR pic.twitter.com/u46VLJNjUq
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 20, 2018
Moroccan defenders just completely lost track of Ronaldo, who punished the Atlas Lions for the transgression.
The Ronaldo goal vs Morocco put the incredible goal scorer on 85 career international goals. The all-time leader, Iran’s Ali Daei, has 109 career international goals. Daei set his record in 149 matches from 1993-2006. Ronaldo has scored his 85 goals in 152 matches. The great Hungarian Puskas had 84 in 89 matches from 1945-1962. For those wondering, Pele is officially seventh on the list of most international goals with 77 in 91 caps for Brazil.
Abby Wambach of the U.S. holds the record for most international goals in soccer. She scored 184 goals in 256 appearances, 11 more than second-place Christine Sinclair of Canada, who is still playing.
Ronaldo is one of four players to have scored in four different World Cups, alongside Pele (Brazil), Uwe Seeler (West Germany) and Miroslav Klose (Germany).
Cristiano Ronaldo now has four goals this World Cup. He had three total in his prior three World Cup appearances.
In the end, the Ronaldo goal vs Morocco held up as the lone goal of the match, helping Portugal win 1-0 and eliminate Morocco.