One goal separated him from a milestone only one player had ever reached
Na margem de uma marca que apenas um homem na história do futebol internacional alguma vez alcançou, Cristiano Ronaldo deslocou-se a Solna para defrontar a Suécia numa partida da Liga das Nações. Com 99 golos pela seleção portuguesa, faltava-lhe apenas um para se juntar ao iraniano Ali Daei num clube de dois membros — o único clube no futebol que exige um século de feitos para a nação. A perseguição de Ronaldo à imortalidade desportiva não é apenas uma história de números; é o retrato de uma vontade humana que recusa reconhecer os seus próprios limites.
- Um único golo separa Ronaldo de uma fronteira que só Ali Daei, com 109 golos pelo Irão entre 1993 e 2006, alguma vez atravessou.
- A incerteza sobre a sua condição física adensava a tensão: Ronaldo estava a ser avaliado, embora a participação nos últimos dois treinos sugerisse que estaria disponível.
- O Friends Arena carregava memória e pressão — foi ali que, em 2013, Ronaldo assinou um hat-trick decisivo que levou Portugal ao Mundial do Brasil, tornando o estádio num palco de destino pessoal.
- Portugal chegava ao jogo com confiança, após uma vitória por 4-1 sobre a Croácia, mas os olhos do mundo convergiam num único homem e num único golo.
- Se Ronaldo marcasse, não encerraria apenas uma contagem — abriria a perseguição ao recorde absoluto de Daei, 109 golos, que até há pouco parecia intocável.
Cristiano Ronaldo chegou à Suécia a um golo da história. O jogo, marcado para uma terça-feira à noite no Friends Arena em Solna, era um encontro da Liga das Nações contra a seleção sueca — mas o verdadeiro peso da noite estava noutro lugar: nos 99 golos que Ronaldo já tinha marcado pela seleção portuguesa, e no centésimo que ainda faltava.
Apenas o iraniano Ali Daei tinha alguma vez chegado a essa marca, terminando a carreira internacional com 109 golos em 149 jogos, entre 1993 e 2006. Alcançar os 100 significaria entrar num clube com apenas dois membros em toda a história do futebol.
O estádio não era indiferente a Ronaldo. Em 2013, naquele mesmo recinto, ele protagonizou uma das noites mais memoráveis da sua carreira internacional: um hat-trick num playoff de qualificação para o Mundial do Brasil, numa vitória por 3-2 que levou Portugal ao torneio. Regressar ali era regressar a um lugar de magia pessoal.
O caminho até aos 99 golos tinha sido longo. O primeiro surgiu no oitavo jogo pela seleção, no Euro 2004, numa derrota. Em março de 2014, ao marcar dois golos frente a Camarões, ultrapassou Pauleta e tornou-se o melhor marcador de sempre de Portugal — com 49 golos, uma marca que então parecia definitiva. Hoje era apenas uma paragem no percurso.
Aos 35 anos, na terceira década de futebol internacional, Ronaldo continuava a perseguir. A dúvida sobre a sua condição física pairava, mas a presença nos treinos sugeria que estaria em campo. Se marcasse, não chegaria apenas aos 100 — ficaria mais perto dos 109 de Daei, um recorde que o mundo começava a acreditar que ele poderia alcançar.
Cristiano Ronaldo arrived in Sweden on the edge of history. One goal separated him from a milestone that only one player in the world had ever reached: one hundred international goals. The match was set for Tuesday evening at the Friends Arena in Solna, just outside Stockholm, a Nations League fixture against the Swedish national team. Whether Ronaldo would actually take the field remained uncertain—he was still being evaluated for fitness—but he had participated in the last two training sessions, suggesting he would be ready.
The significance of the moment was not lost on anyone watching. Only Iran's Ali Daei had ever scored one hundred goals for his country, a record he set across 149 appearances between 1993 and 2006. Daei's tally stood at 109. If Ronaldo reached 100 on Tuesday, he would become only the second player in international football history to cross that threshold. More than that, he would join an extraordinarily exclusive club—a place where almost no one else had ever stood.
The Friends Arena itself carried weight for Ronaldo. Seven years earlier, in 2013, he had played one of the greatest matches of his international career on that same pitch. It was a World Cup qualifying playoff against Sweden for a spot in Brazil 2014. Portugal needed to win the second leg to advance. Ronaldo delivered a performance that transcended sport: he scored three goals, a hat-trick, in a 3-2 victory that sent his country through to the tournament. That night had been magical. It had also been decisive. Now, returning to the same stadium, he would be chasing another kind of history.
Ronaldo's journey to 99 goals had been long and methodical. His first goal for Portugal came in his eighth international appearance, during the opening match of Euro 2004 at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto—a game Portugal lost 2-1. For years after that, he accumulated his tally steadily, becoming the face of the national team's attack. On March 5, 2014, he scored twice in a 5-1 rout of Cameroon in a friendly in Leiria, surpassing Pauleta to become Portugal's all-time leading goalscorer with 49 goals. That record had seemed monumental at the time. Now it was merely a waypoint in a much longer journey.
Portugal itself had momentum heading into the Sweden match. The team had opened its Nations League campaign with a 4-1 victory over Croatia, a statement of intent. The squad was built around Ronaldo, but it was no longer dependent on him alone. Still, his presence, his hunger, his ability to deliver in moments that mattered—these things had not diminished. If he scored on Tuesday, he would not only reach 100. He would also move one step closer to chasing down Daei's 109, a record that had seemed untouchable until Ronaldo began to make it seem possible.
The narrative of Ronaldo's career had always been one of relentless pursuit. He had chased goals, trophies, records, and immortality with an intensity that few athletes had ever matched. At 35 years old, playing in his third decade of international football, he was still chasing. The Friends Arena, a place where he had once performed magic, would be the stage for his next attempt. One goal. That was all that stood between Ronaldo and a place in history that would be his alone, shared only with Ali Daei, a man from another era, another continent, another time.
Citas Notables
Ronaldo had participated in the last two training sessions, suggesting he would be ready to play— Match report
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does one more goal matter so much? He's already the greatest scorer Portugal has ever had.
Because 100 is the number where you stop being just excellent and become something else—a category of one. Only Daei has been there. That changes what the record means.
But he's 35. Is this really still about chasing records, or is it about legacy?
Both. At this stage, they're the same thing. Every goal now is a statement that he's not done, that he's still hungry. The record is just the proof.
The Friends Arena—that's not random, is it? That hat-trick in 2013?
No. That was the night he saved Portugal's World Cup. Now he's back at the same place, chasing something even bigger. It's the kind of symmetry that makes you believe in narrative.
What happens if he doesn't score on Tuesday?
He plays again. There will be other matches, other chances. But there's something about this one—the place, the moment, being so close—that makes it feel like it should be now.