Cristiano Ronaldo reached a major milestone by scoring his 900th career goal during Portugal’s 2-1 victory over Croatia. At 39, Ronaldo has become the first player ever to achieve this feat. He was visibly moved after scoring the goal, a close-range finish from a Nuno Mendes cross, as he dropped to his knees and shed tears on the field in Lisbon.

Last week, Ronaldo expressed his ambition to reach 1,000 goals before retiring. On his new YouTube channel, he stated, “I’ll hit 900 soon, and then I’ll surpass 1,000. I’m determined to reach 1,000 goals. As long as I stay injury-free, that’s my primary goal. I want to achieve that. It will be the greatest milestone in football for me, and I can prove it because all my goals are recorded on video.”

While Pele is often cited as the highest goalscorer of all time, with Fifa attributing 1,281 goals to the late Brazilian legend, this figure includes around 550 goals scored in exhibition and amateur matches. Pele’s official career tally stands at 762, which has sparked debate about the most reliable records.

Ronaldo’s goals include 118 in 292 appearances for Manchester United, five for Sporting Lisbon, 450 in 438 games for Real Madrid, 101 in three seasons at Juventus, and 27 in his second stint at Old Trafford. After moving to Saudi Arabia to join Al-Nassr, he has netted 68 goals in 74 matches. On the international stage, he has scored 131 goals in 212 games for Portugal.

Despite his impressive record and Portugal’s Euro 2016 win, Ronaldo faced criticism for his performance at this summer’s Euros, where he failed to score as Portugal was eliminated by France in the quarter-finals.

In the Nations League match against Croatia, Ronaldo’s goal was the second for Portugal, following an earlier goal by Manchester United’s Diogo Dalot. Although Dalot also scored an own goal, Portugal secured a 2-1 win.