Al Nassr forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, moved another step closer to football history after reaching 967 career goals in Al-Nassr’s emphatic 5–2 victory over Al-Najma in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday.

Returning from a month-long injury absence, the Portuguese forward showed no signs of rust as he delivered a decisive second-half performance.

According to Fabrizio Romano’s X post on Saturday, “Cristiano Ronaldo returns from injury, scores a crucial penalty and brace for Al Nassr. 967th career goals reached.”

After missing recent matches due to a hamstring issue, Ronaldo marked his comeback in style, underlining his enduring influence at the top level.

Despite facing the league’s bottom side, Al-Nassr were initially stunned as Al-Najma took a surprise lead.

However, the hosts responded just before the break, with Sadio Mane and Abdullah Al Hamdan both finding the net in first-half stoppage time to turn the game around.

Ronaldo then took control after the interval.

He calmly converted a penalty in the 56th minute to restore Al-Nassr’s advantage after the visitors had briefly equalised.

The veteran forward later added another goal, his second of the night, to bring his career tally to 967 and put the result beyond doubt.

Mane also grabbed his second goal as Al-Nassr sealed a comfortable win.

The victory marked a 13th consecutive league triumph for Al-Nassr, strengthening their position at the top of the table and extending their lead over rivals Al-Hilal.

With 966 career goals, Ronaldo edges ever closer to the unprecedented 1,000-goal milestone, further cementing his legacy as one of the greatest goal scorers in football history.

Mikel Arteta has defended Arsenal following scrutiny over the club’s high number of international withdrawals, insisting all decisions were based on medical advice and handled transparently.

The Gunners saw 11 players pull out of international duty during the most recent break, accounting for nearly half of the 23 withdrawals recorded across the Premier League.

The situation sparked debate over whether Arsenal were dealing with a significant injury crisis or taking a cautious approach to player fitness during a crucial stage of the season.

Arteta dismissed any suggestion of manipulation, stressing that the club maintains strong relationships with national teams and communicates openly about player conditions.

He pointed specifically to England manager Thomas Tuchel as an example of that cooperation.

According to Arteta in his press conference on Friday, every withdrawal followed a clear medical assessment. He added that Arsenal have consistently supported international call-ups and would never prevent fit players from representing their countries.

Several key players had already been ruled out before joining their national squads.

William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães withdrew with ankle and knee injuries respectively, while Eberechi Eze, Martin Ødegaard, and Jurrien Timber also missed out due to fitness issues. Leandro Trossard later pulled out with a hip problem.

A further five players withdrew after linking up with their countries, including Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, both due to minor knocks. Noni Madueke suffered a knee injury while on duty, while Martin Zubimendi and Piero Hincapié also returned early.

Despite the controversy, Arteta emphasized that players are eager to represent their nations and that Arsenal fully supports international football when players are fit to participate.

Attention now turns back to club action, with Arsenal preparing for their FA Cup quarter-final against Southampton. Arteta confirmed Eze will miss the match, while Ødegaard and Timber could return to contention. Madueke is also being assessed, with his injury understood to be less serious than initially feared.

“We have a very good relationship and communication with most of the national teams – certainly with [England manager] Thomas [Tuchel] too.

“We have been extremely supportive all the time. When you have to communicate the state of every player, we are always honest, and a medical decision had to be made. That was clear what the conclusion was,” Arteta said.

Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the World Cup on Tuesday, defeating Bolivia 2-1 in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico to seal their first appearance at the finals in 40 years.

Iraq, whose preparations for Tuesday’s playoff had been disrupted by the war in the Middle East, will play in World Cup Group I against France, Senegal and Norway.

Goals from Ali Al-Hamadi and Aymen Hussein secured a famous win for Iraq, whose last appearance at the World Cup came at the 1986 finals in Mexico.

The win marked a triumph for Iraq’s Australian coach Graham Arnold, who had initially sought to have Tuesday’s fixture postponed due to the disruption caused by the regional conflict triggered by US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Most of the Iraqi squad only reached Mexico after a gruelling three‑day journey from Baghdad that began with an overland crossing into Jordan.

But there was little sign of weariness during a confident start by Iraq, who took the lead after nine minutes through Luton Town striker Al-Hamadi -– the 24-year-old who moved to Liverpool as a toddler following the outbreak of the 2003 Iraq war.

Iraq midfielder Amir Al-Ammari won a corner after a superb free-kick that was saved at full stretch from Bolivia goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra.

From the subsequent set piece Al-Ammari curled a pinpoint corner on to the head of Al-Hamadi who nodded home for 1-0.

Iraq were well worth the early goal and looked in control until Bolivia, who had gradually grown into the game, equalized after 38 minutes.

Ramiro Vaca’s shot from the edge of the area was controlled with one touch by Moises Paniagua and the Morocco-based central midfielder swept into the roof of the net.

The goal stunned Iraq and Bolivia looked likely to grab a second after dominating the remainder of the half.

Iraq regained the lead eight minutes into the second half, when a long ball forward was nodded into the path of substitute Marko Lawk-Farji.

Lawk-Farji’s cross found captain Hussein and the veteran striker clipped a first-time finish into the bottom corner.

Bolivia pressed frantically for a goal to force extra-time, but Iraq’s well-marshalled defence held firm during a nerve-shredding nine minutes of stoppage time.

AFP