A new study has ranked Portugal and Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo third in all time highest goal scorers’ chart, according to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, IFFHS.
The study shows that the former Manchester United forward might not be the outright all-time leading goalscorer in football history.
Ronaldo, 36, scored his record-breaking 760th goal against Napoli last month in Juventus’ 2-0 Italian Super Cup win, putting him ahead of Slavia Prague legend, Josef Bican.
And the Czech FA argued that the Portuguese has not broken Bican’s record, saying that “Josef Bican scored 821 goals in official matches.”
Brazilian icon, Pele also said that he scored over 1,000 goals, with Brazilian club, Santos, echoing his bold statement.
IFFHS has now released data on the world’s all-time record goalscoring rankings.
It said that Ronaldo was named the third-most prolific goalscorer when his goals for the national team were removed.
This means that the 36-year-old is 28 goals shy from equalling the top goalscorer.
IFFHS named Brazilian legend, Romario top of the pile, saying that the former PSV Eindhoven star scored 689 goals.
Falling five goals shy of Romario is Pele, with the IFFHS claiming that the Santos legend has a 684-goal haul to his name.
Bican finished fourth with 656 goals and Barcelona superstar, Lionel Messi was ranked fifth with 651 goals.