Cristiano Ronald turns 39, a look at football legend's 5 major records

Known for topping goal-scoring charts and winning awards, football legend Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates his 39th birthday today.

The Portugal icon is one of the greatest footballers in the world known for his major achievements in the game including the prestigious Ballon d'Or awards which he won fives times, grabbed the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Awards a record three times as well as four European Golden Shoes.

Ronaldo is the world's richest and highest-paid player with an estimated $260 million income in 2023, according to USA Today. He has an Instagram following of 620 million, making him the most followed person on the social networking website, Hindustan Times reported.

Let's take a quick look at the five major records of the football legend.

The first person to score 800 career goals

Ronaldo made history by being the first player to score 800 goals. He scored the game's historic goal in November 2022, in a Premier League match between Manchester United and Arsenal.

Most international goals

Ronaldo has more than 118 goals to his name in international football. He broke Ali Daei's record in 2021 when he scored his 110th goal in the match against the Republic of Ireland.

Most Champions League goals

Throughout his medal-filled career, the football star has hoisted the coveted Ballon d'Or trophy five times.

Additionally, he is also the most-capped player in the Champions League, with 183 appearances and remains an all-time leading goal scorer in the tournament.

Hat-trick King

Ronaldo is the first player to score 10 hat-tricks in men's international football. 

The Portuguese goal-machine achieved the staggering feat when he netted his 10th hat-trick in Portugal's 5-0 win against Luxembourg in 2021, breaking Sven Rydell’s record of nine goals.

The only player to score in three Champions League finals

One of the major reasons why Ronaldo is known as the "Mr Champions Trophy" is because he holds the record for scoring the most goals in the final matches of the league, along with the record of having scored in three Champions League finals back-to-back.