Cristiano Ronaldo scored a 15-minute second-half hat-trick in Al-Nassr’s 5-3 Saudi Pro League win over Al-Kholood on Thursday, leaving him 15 goals short of 1,000.
The 41-year-old struck in the 66th, 72nd and 81st minutes in Riyadh with the game tied at 2-2, ESPN reported. It was the 67th hat-trick of his career and his seventh for Al-Nassr.
The BBC reported that his Portugal team-mate Joao Felix supplied four assists, two of them for Ronaldo’s goals. Sadio Mane set up the third.
Ronaldo posted afterwards on social media: “Great win, great team performance.”
How far he has to go
The sums are simple. Ronaldo is on 985, so he needs 15 more to become the first player to reach 1,000 career goals. BeIN Sports reported that the treble ended a two-match run without a goal, against Neom and Al-Faisaly.
There is one wrinkle in the count. World Soccer Talk reported that the Saudi Pro League did not credit him with a goal in the 3-1 win over Al-Faisaly on 23 October. By the league’s own records, that leaves him on 984.
His recent rate suggests the target is within reach. He was on 956 in late December, according to Yahoo Sports, and had 976 in mid-August, CNN reported. That is 29 goals in about 10 months, a spell that included this summer’s World Cup.
Al-Nassr are the defending league champions and second in the table. They have a match in hand on the leaders, Al-Qadsiah, the BBC said. Ronaldo has a year left on his contract.
What Ronaldo has said
He has talked about 1,000 on and off for years. In December 2025, after the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai, he said he wanted to “reach that number” that everyone knew about, according to Yahoo Sports.
His comments on retirement have been less settled. In an interview with Vogue, published in August, he said this was “probably my last year of football”. Al Jazeera reported that he gave the interview after his wedding to Georgina Rodriguez.
He has also been cooler on the milestone at times. In 2024, when he was 39, he told reporters that 1,000 goals did not matter to him “at all, honestly”, FotMob reported.
Most of his remaining games will come in the Saudi league. Al-Nassr have 22 league fixtures left this season, so Ronaldo has time to reach 1,000 goals.
Sources: BBC Sport, ESPN, BeIN Sports, World Soccer Talk, CNN, Al Jazeera, Yahoo Sports, FotMob
This story was compiled by the MDW Newsdesk with AI-assisted tools, using the reporting credited above.
