The ball went in off João Félix’s free kick in the 49th minute. Ronaldo rose to meet it, Andrei Girotto got the last meaningful touch, and the 41-year-old wheeled away to celebrate as if there had been no question about it.
The referee gave it to him. Opta did not.
Ronaldo is now either 18 or 19 goals from 1,000, depending on which ledger you trust. The Saudi Pro League’s match centre and the referee’s official report have Friday down as his 982nd. The record kept by Opta and relayed by ESPN still has him on 981, as Goal.com reported the day after the match.
What the data providers saw
The incident itself was straightforward. Félix clipped a free kick into the Al-Faisaly box, Ronaldo got a touch, and the ball ricocheted off Girotto before crossing the line. The argument is whether Ronaldo’s head genuinely diverted the ball on its way, or whether the defender’s deflection was the decisive touch. Reviewing the footage, Gulf News reported that Opta, SofaScore, FotMob and Flashscore all independently classified it as an own goal by Girotto.
Read also: Luis Enrique reveals who PSG’s victory was really for after emotional scenes at Parc des Princes
The league disagreed. World Soccer Talk reported that the Saudi Pro League accepted the referee’s official report and credited the goal to Ronaldo, closing the dispute inside its own records.
The free kick that still belongs to Pepe
It is not the first time a Ronaldo tally has been argued between an official report and a club’s own numbers. In September 2010, playing for Real Madrid against Real Sociedad, he struck a free kick that deflected off teammate Pepe before beating Claudio Bravo. Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz credited the goal to Pepe. Real Madrid’s own website gave it to Ronaldo.
Pepe himself tried to settle it.
“The ball hit me and then went in, but the credit should go to the player who took the free kick,” he told Marca at the time, according to Sky Sports.
Read also: Bayern Munich provide new Vincent Kompany health update days after sudden collapse
The disagreement still matters. When Ronaldo appeared to overtake Raúl as Real Madrid’s all-time top scorer in October 2015, the official record had him level on 323. Real Madrid’s count already had him on 324.
Six more goals, parked for FIFA reasons
The gap between the governing-body view and the crowd-sourced view runs wider than one deflection. In reporting from Gulf News earlier this year, Sofascore and Transfermarkt were listing Ronaldo six goals lower than ESPN. The missing six all came at the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup, where Ronaldo was top scorer as Al-Nassr won the title. The reasoning given was that the tournament, organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations, is not recognised by FIFA as a major international or continental competition.
Those six goals have been added back on some platforms since. Others still leave them out.
Opta’s tracker still has Ronaldo on 981. The Saudi Pro League has him on 982.
Read also: Report: Arsenal open to shock £61m star exit as Real Madrid prepare January move
Read also: Flick sends Barcelona players home due to burnout fears
