Transfermarkt denies the Arab Club Champions Cup data, lists CR7 with 894 goals

Cristiano Ronaldo has achieved the milestone of 900 career goals, with reports from the UEFA Nations League official accounts, Manchester United, Real Madrid, and major global media outlets all highlighting this achievement. However, Transfermarkt still insists that Ronaldo has scored 894 goals.

Transfermarkt has issued a statement explaining the discrepancy: Ronaldo has scored 900 career goals, but why does Transfermarkt's data show a slightly different number?

Transfermarkt states that Ronaldo has scored 68 goals for his current club Al Nassr, but Transfermarkt only records 62 goals for Ronaldo at Al Nassr. This is why Ronaldo’s career total on their website is 894 goals. The additional 6 goals were scored in the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup, which is not listed as an official competition in the TM database.

Transfermarkt's Turkish account lists Ronaldo with 900 goals in their active player goals chart but notes "Transfermarkt data: 894 goals" in the bottom left corner.

The reason Transfermarkt excludes the Arab Club Champions Cup data is that its organizer, the Arab Football Association (UAFA), is not a member of the AFC or CAF and is not affiliated with any FIFA subsidiary or branch. Transfermarkt's explanation is that the UAFA, as a non-FIFA organization, does not qualify as a FIFA member association, so its events are registered as friendly matches due to jurisdictional issues.

However, while Transfermarkt does not recognize Ronaldo's Arab Club Champions Cup goals, other major non-official entities like Wikipedia and IFFHS (International Federation of Football History & Statistics) acknowledge them. This is why Ronaldo's career goal count is still recognized as 900 by these sources rather than the 894 claimed by Transfermarkt. Therefore, Wikipedia includes Ronaldo's Arab Club Champions Cup title, while Transfermarkt does not.

When Ronaldo led his team to win the Arab Club Champions Cup, the AFC congratulated him on their website and later acknowledged his 850th goal, even though Transfermarkt's count at that time was still 844 goals.

FIFA, as an authoritative official organization, does not have an official ranking for top goal scorers. For example, the Czech legend Josef Bican has goal counts listed as 722, 805, 821, and 948 due to inconsistent standards for event certification. The Guinness World Records certified Pelé with 1,279 goals.

Wikipedia uses IFFHS data, which recognizes Ronaldo as the first player to score 900 goals in official matches.

FIFA confirmed that Ronaldo scored 54 goals in 2023, including 6 goals from the Arab Club Champions Cup, in their annual data summary on January 1, 2024.

In summary, according to major news media, as well as FIFA and AFC media reports, Ronaldo's 6 goals in the Arab Club Champions Cup are counted as official match goals. Currently, only Transfermarkt maintains that Ronaldo has 894 goals.

It is certain that when Ronaldo scores 6 more goals, mainstream media will not celebrate his 900th goal again, though Transfermarkt may do so.