Ivan Toney determined to deny Cristiano Ronaldo making history

History is in Cristiano Ronaldo’s sights, but Ivan Toney won’t let it happen without a fight.

Ronaldo entered the 2025/26 Saudi Pro League season on the back of consecutive Golden Boot awards.

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The Portuguese superstar slammed home 35 goals in 31 league games during the 2023/24 campaign and followed it up with 25 goals in 30 games last term.

How Toney could deny Ronaldo history

Should Ronaldo win the Golden Boot again, it would mark the first time in Saudi Pro League history a European player has taken out the gong for three seasons in a row.

However, Ronaldo faces a serious fight to write his name into the history books.

That’s because Toney leads the race, having netted a whopping 23 times this season for Al Ahli.

Toney’s tally is three more than Ronaldo, who may come to rue going on strike for two games amid frustrations over Al Nassr’s transfer dealings.

The English star’s remarkable form in front of goal, which could have been 24 had he not missed his first penalty since April 2023, is why he’s on cloud nine at the moment.

Why Saudi defenders must fear Toney

“Every time I step onto the pitch, I feel like I’m going to score, I’ve got that confidence at the moment,” Toney told talkSPORT’s Darren Bent in an exclusive interview.

“But that’s always good, having a striker in a team that feels like it’s going to score goals and can score goals.

“And obviously, it’s helping at the moment considering where we are in the table, so it’s good.”

Thanks to Toney’s blistering displays up top, Al Ahli sit first in the Saudi Pro League with 56 points.

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Ronaldo’s Al Nassr are one point behind in second, but they have the advantage of a game in hand.

Al Ahli also have to be wary of fourth-placed Al Qadsiah, who have transformed into one of the league’s best teams since Brendan Rodgers took charge.

Rodgers’ side are on 53 points and are riding a three-game win streak as they look to finish the 34-game season strongly.

Golden Boot, or league title?

Even though the chance to beat an all-time great in Ronaldo to the Golden Boot this season is an extremely realistic one, Toney was quick to point out the league title took precedence.

“Yeah, of course, being a striker, you want to be scoring goals,” Toney said.

“And when you’re this far through the season and you’re close to the top of the goal scoring chart, it’s kind of like, ‘Okay, let me stay here now.’

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“And of course, we know goals win games and that’s what I’m trying to do for the team and help us in the league.

“So yeah, I want to try and stay there now.

“And obviously, the more goals I get, the more chance we’ve got of winning games and it’ll help us in the league as well, so that’s my main goal.”

Toney will look to add to his 23 league goals on Thursday when Al Ahli travel to Al Riyadh.