Al Nassr vs Al Diriyah Score: Ronaldo Scores Goal No. 980 in 3-0 Win

This post was compiled with AI. We checked it against the original articles and announcements, but please confirm details in the linked sources. Trending on Google Trends (US, GB, CA, AU) 50,000+; sources collected 2026-10-10 18:10 (KST).

In one line

Al Nassr beat Al Diriyah 3-0 in the Saudi Pro League on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, at Al-Awwal Park. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 23rd minute with what ESPN and AS both count as his 980th career goal, leaving him 20 short of 1,000.

Why searches rose

The facts: "al nassr" showed 50,000+ searches on the Google Trends U.S. page when we collected it (Oct. 10, 6:10 p.m. Korea time). It was also listed at 20,000+ in the U.K., 10,000+ in Canada and 5,000+ in Australia, grouped with "al-nassr vs diriyah". The timing matches the match, so the game appears to be the driver. That link is our inference.

Goals

Minute	Scorer	Score
23'	Cristiano Ronaldo	1-0
35'	Samú Costa	2-0
77'	Kingsley Coman	3-0

All three goals were Al Nassr's. Minutes are from ESPN's match data.

How the goals came

Ronaldo, 23': Kingsley Coman's shot was not held by Al Diriyah goalkeeper Waleed Ali, and Ronaldo put in the rebound. ESPN and AS describe it the same way.
Samú Costa, 35': AS reports a header from a João Félix corner.
Coman, 77': AS reports that he ran through one-on-one and finished past the goalkeeper.

Darwin Núñez started for Al Diriyah, who had two players booked, per ESPN's data.

Ronaldo's count

ESPN's goal tracker lists Ronaldo at 980 goals in 1,337 games, or 0.74 per game. His previous goal, No. 979, came on Sept. 9 in a 2-1 win over Abha, the tracker says.

It was the 41-year-old's first match since he left Portugal's training camp, according to both ESPN and AS. This article covers the match only.

The table

ESPN's table, checked at 6:12 p.m. Korea time on Oct. 10, shows:

Al Qadsiah: 19 points from 8 games, goal difference +13
Al Nassr: 19 points from 8 games (6 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss), goal difference +12
Al Hilal: 18 points from 7 games

Al Diriyah sit ninth with 11 points from eight games. Several clubs had yet to play this round, so the order can change.

What we could not confirm

League position: ESPN's table and article put Al Nassr second, behind Al Qadsiah on goal difference. AS wrote that the win moved them "provisionally into first place." We followed ESPN's table.
Ronaldo's Portugal totals: Two ESPN pages give different figures (146 goals in 234 appearances in one, 143 in 225 in the other), so we left them out.
How the second and third goals were scored: These descriptions come from AS only.
Goal minutes: AS's prose has Ronaldo's goal in the 23rd minute, but the goal list on its page shows 22', 34' and 76'.

Sources

ESPN, Al Nassr 3-0 Al Diriyah match summary (Oct. 9, 2026) https://www.espn.com/soccer/match/_/gameId/401900907
ESPN, Cristiano Ronaldo scores as Al Nassr fans show support after Portugal walkout https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/50142037/cristiano-ronaldo-al-nassr-goal-portugal-saudi-pro-league
ESPN, Cristiano Ronaldo goal tracker: Road to 1,000 career goals https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/46751020/cristiano-ronaldo-goal-tracker-road-1000-career-goals
AS USA, Cristiano Ronaldo scores 980th career goal as Al-Nassr beats Diriyah https://en.as.com/soccer/cristiano-ronaldo-scores-980th-career-goal-as-al-nassr-beats-diriyah-f202610-n/
AS USA, Cristiano Ronaldo back for Al-Nassr... and back on the scoresheet https://en.as.com/soccer/cristiano-ronaldo-back-for-al-nassr-and-back-on-the-scoresheet-f202610-n/
ESPN, Saudi Pro League table https://www.espn.com/soccer/standings/_/league/ksa.1