Pele congratulates Cristiano Ronaldo on joining elite list

Brazilian football legend Pele has congratulated Cristiano Ronaldo after the Portugal forward surpassed his goalscoring record at international level.

Ronaldo racked up another treble for the European champions on Thursday evening as they cruised to a 5-1 win over the Faroe Islands at the Estadio do Bessa.

The 48th hat-trick of the Real Madrid superstar's senior career was enough to take him to 78 goals on the international stage - one more than Pele, who now drops down to sixth in the all-time list.

Former Santos and Brazil ace Pele posted on Twitter: "Congratulations Cristiano for joining the elite five of FIFA international goal scorers. Parabens!"

Ronaldo has scored 78 goals in 144 outings for Portugal, leaving him level with former Iraq striker Hussein Saeed and 31 behind record scorer Ali Daei of Iran.