Cristiano Ronaldo goal sees Real Madrid star move in top 10 international goalscorers of all-time

The Portugal forward opened the scoring in Tuesday night's friendly against Sweden to equal Mirsolav Klose's record of 71 international goals

Mark Critchley
Tuesday 28 March 2017 15:58 EDT
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Cristiano Ronaldo has now equalled Miroslav Klose's total of 71 goals
Cristiano Ronaldo has now equalled Miroslav Klose's total of 71 goals (Getty)

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Cristiano Ronaldo moved into the top 10 international goalscorers of all-time with his strike in Portugal's 3-2 friendly defeat against Sweden on Tuesday night.

The Real Madrid forward, who scored his 69th and 70th international goals in the 3-0 defeat of Hungary on Saturday, notched his 71st to open the scoring at the Estádio dos Barreiros.

Ronaldo slotted past goalkeeper Karl Johnsson in the 18th minute to take his place among some of international football’s greats.

The goal put Ronaldo joint-ninth in the all-time rankings, alongside Germany’s Miroslav Klose, Saudi Arabia’s Majed Abdullah, Malawi’s Kinnah Phiri and Thailand’s Kiatsuk Senamuang.

By equalling Klose’s record, Ronaldo also becomes the joint-third highest European international goalscorer in history. Only Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis (75) and Ferenc Puskas (84) have scored more.


Though Portugal took the lead on the night and doubled it through a Andreas Granqvist own goal, a second-half collapse and a late own goal of their own allowed Janne Andersson's side to leave victorious.

Viktor Claesson's double after the break pulled Sweden back into the game, before Cavaco Cancelo's diverted the ball past his own goalkeeper to round off the Swedes' comeback.

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