Cristiano Ronaldo has been breaking records ever since he started playing football. that process has accelerated over the years, and at Real Madrid, his rivalry with Lionel Messi has driven him to greater heights.
The Portuguese has won several accolades and at the same time has ensured he has been at the top of his game for a long period of time through immense training and fitness regime. Ronaldo has also managed to be the only player who proved to be a worthy rival to Lionel Messi and the two together have dominated world football, in a generation like no other in football history.
So let’s look at every single world record held by Cristiano Ronaldo:
#11. Most Appearances in the FIFPro World XI (9 times)
The FIFPro World XI is chosen based on votes from various coaches, critics and footballers who select the best XI players in the world. The team is presented during the FIFA Ballon d’Or awards ceremony.
Last time Paul Pogba, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo made the FIFPro World XI last year. The player with the most appearances in that XI is the Real Madrid superstar and Lionel Messi both with 9.
#10. Most international goals in a year for club and country(25 goals)
Here’s another record the Portuguese shares with his bitter rival Lionel Messi. The forward has scored 25 goals in a calendar year in European and international competitions. He achieved this title in 2013 just a year after Messi had achieved the same record.
This record is also held by English great Vivian Woodward who played for Chelsea and Tottenham in the early 1900’s as a forward. So it took more than a decade to equal his record and it was equaled in two consecutive years. Quite an era we live in!
#9. First player to score 40 goals in a professional league in two consecutive seasons
Scoring goals is no easy task no matter how easy it looks when the top strikers in the world are doing it. Cristiano Ronaldo though is a level above most in this respect. The Madrid man has scored 40 goals in two consecutive seasons in La Liga.
The first time he achieved it was in 2010-11, a season after his arrival at the Bernabeu under Jose Mourinho. The next season he went one better by scoring 46 times in the 2011-12 season helping his team win their first La Liga title since 2008.
Since that year, he’s always hit the 30 goal mark but has only managed to cross the 40 mark just once when he netted 48 in the 2014-15 season.
#8. First player to score in every single minute of an official game
When you’re Cristiano Ronaldo and you specialize in scoring goals, it’s this kind of crazy record that only he is capable of breaking. Scoring in every single minute of a football match is almost an impossible task made by possible by this goal machine.
The unique thing about this record is the kind of threat he poses in any moment of a game. You can’t for a second as a defender take your eyes off him in the game and that’s exactly what 90 of his opponents in the past did.
#7. Only player to win 8 trophies with two different clubs
Here’s one record Lionel Messi will probably have no chance of matching. Ronaldo has won several personal trophies and accolades and some of them he’s won twice, once with Real Madrid and Manchester United.
These are the following trophies/awards he’s won at both clubs: League Title, UEFA CL, League Supercup, League Cup, League MVP, Golden Boot, Ballon d'Or, and FIFA CWC.
#6. Only player to score 60+ goals in a calendar year four consecutive times
The goal scoring records keep coming and here's yet another one he’s managed to notch. Ronaldo managed to score 60+ goals in a calendar year. But the amazing part is he managed it 4 times in a row.
From 2011-2014, he netted 60 times each year, winning the Ballon d’Or twice in that period and also won the Champions League and the La Liga title. Those four years was probably the most successful period in his life.
It might be difficult for him to repeat that this season considering the start he’s had but you can never count him out.
#5. First and only player to appear in the FIFPro World XI for two different clubs
Ronaldo having been extremely successful at two different clubs and more importantly two different leagues has enabled him to have more diversity in the awards he wins and the records he holds.
He appeared in the FIFPro XI while at Manchester United from 2007 to 2009. Since that season he has made it into the World XI every year until 2016. After winning the UEFA Champions League and the Euros in the summer you would expect he will be in the team once again.
#4. First player to score more than 50 goals in four consecutive seasons
This is the first of three records Cristiano Ronaldo broke in three consecutive seasons. The Portuguese’s hot streak began in the 2010-11 season when he managed 53 goals in 54 appearances.
He managed 60 in 54 appearances the next campaign and followed it up with 55 and 51 in the next two campaigns managing to average more than a goal a game in the four seasons combined.
#3 Only player to score more than 50 goals in five consecutive seasons
Continuing with the same vein of goalscoring form, he managed another 61 goals in 2014-15 season. Unfortunately, his impressive record did not help Real Madrid win any major silverware with Barcelona winning the treble for the first time under Luis Enrique.
That season Lionel Messi managed to beat his rival to the Ballon D’or for the 5th time in his career. But Ronaldo would get his own the very next season.
#2 Only player to score more than 50 goals in six consecutive seasons
Despite Real Madrid not winning La Liga last season, Ronaldo kept up his incredible feat of scoring more than 50 goals in a season once again after his 51 goals in the 2015-16 campaign.
Los Blancos ran Barcelona very close in La Liga but eventually lost out in that race. But they did manage to lift their 11th UEFA Champions League title, with Ronaldo scoring the winning penalty in the final against Atletico Madrid.
It will be difficult for him to keep up his 50 goal average for another season because of his slow start to the 2015/16 campaign.
#1 Only player to score more than 50 goals in six different seasons
No player in the history of the game has managed to score 50 goals in six different seasons in their career. But Ronaldo did in six consecutive seasons which is an achievement on its own.
Since making the switch from United to Madrid, the 31-year-old has become an absolute machine in front of goal and it's incredible he is still managing to find them at such a consistent rate for so long in his career.
Granted he might be on a slight decline this season but you can never count him out to reach for the stars and break yet another record this season.
