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Seven iconic goal celebrations including Ronaldo and new France captain Kylian Mbappe

Cristiano Ronaldo

Whether it's dancing, acrobatics, or simply winding up rival fans, players throughout the years have performed some iconic celebrations that have made their mark on the sport.

Long gone are the days of simply raising your hand aloft in joy, nowadays it seems every player is in search of their own personalised trademark celebration.
Wherever you lie on the love-hate scale of Paul Pogba to Roy Keane, it's a growing part of the modern game and players are showing the same levels of creativity in their celebrations than they are in their play.

Upon his Manchester United return, Cristiano Ronaldo brought with him the famed celebration that he has done since his Real Madrid days.

With a packed Old Trafford eagerly awaiting his return to the scoresheet, the United faithful weren't let down by their favourite Portuguese star, who netted a brace against Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon.

It seemed certain that Ronaldo would mark his dramatic return in style, and he delivered as usual. To cap off his performance, the 36-year-old also performed his celebration twice to send fans into raptures.

With shouts of "Siuuu" still echoing around Old Trafford, Planet Sport takes a look at six other iconic goal celebrations that have made their mark on the sport.

Peter Crouch

I like to imagine that Peter Crouch is sitting at home considering himself somewhat of a trend-setter when it comes to celebrations in soccer.
The now-retired striker stood out - not only because of his height - but because of his comedic celebration that now has its own special place in soccer folklore.

It may come as a surprise, but Crouch's iconic robot celebration was only on display three times throughout his 20-year career.

Crouch first performed the celebration in 2006 for England after scoring against Jamaica in a World Cup warm-up match. It came just days after news broke of his drunken dancing at David Beckham's pre-game party.

The former Liverpool man netted a hat-trick, but it was his celebration that stuck with the fans, and it has since been part of his sporting legacy.

After retiring the move for over 11 years, Crouch treated fans to one last showing of his robot moves in 2017, after he became the oldest player to reach 100 Premier League goals at 36 years.

Michail Antonio

Antonio's journey from non-league soccer to the Premier League was nothing short of a fairytale, but West Ham's star striker hasn't slowed down after reaching the top.

Since arriving in London in 2015, Antonio went from being a right-back to the Hammers' top goalscorer, and he celebrated appropriately.
The 31-year-old started the 2021/22 season in incredible form, scoring and assisting twice in the season opener against Newcastle United.

Antonio then built on his fine form by adding a further two goals to his tally in the following week at home to Leicester City - making him West Ham's highest ever Premier League goalscorer.

Having already performed a number of comedic celebrations throughout his career, the pressure was on the No.9 to deliver another classic, and he didn't disappoint.
Inspired by the film Dirty Dancing, Antonio ran over to the sidelines before lifting and dancing with a cardboard cutout of himself. Arrogant? Maybe. Brilliant? Definitely.

Daniel Sturridge

Currently a free agent, Sturridge is searching for a new club - not just to be back on the pitch and among the goals, but so he can show off his iconic dance once again.

The former Chelsea and Liverpool man was once hot property in the Premier League, and there will be plenty of rival fans thankful that they're no longer tormented by his celebrations.

Sturridge revealed that his dancing celebration originated from him and his friends messing about at a house party and that his standout moves produced a laugh and so he decided to stick with it as his own celebration.

It first made an appearance when the Englishman netted for Chelsea against Man United in the League Cup, but truly became his trademark during his time at Liverpool.

His celebration became a common occurrence in 2013/14, where his 21 goals in 29 appearances almost helped Liverpool to their first-ever Premier League title.

Sturridge failed to replicate his form in future seasons and has failed to since reach similar heights, but his celebration is still a fan favourite in the red half of Merseyside.

Jesse Lingard

While many simply perform celebrations for light-hearted entertainment, Man United's Jesse Lingard has gone one step further and forged an entire brand.

The 28-year-old has always been known for his cheeky and jovial nature around the dressing room, and has always entertained fans even after scoring a goal.

Lingard was one of many to join in with the 'dab' celebrations as well as his creative 'pied piper' dance he did after scoring against Middlesbrough in 2017.

But his most recent addition has been his "JLingz" celebration that sees him cover his face and make out the letter "J" and "L" with his hands to signal his initials.

We have to give it to him - it's creative. And, it's stuck with a lot of fans, including the West Ham faithful after Lingard's emphatic loan spell in London in 2020/21.

The trademark celebration has also been used as Lingard's logo for his clothing line that he takes charge of outside of soccer. A soccer player, dancer, and entrepreneur… impressive.

Emmanuel Adebayor

It may have been a one-off celebration, but it doesn't take away from the fact that it was utterly brilliant and indeed, iconic.

After spending three years with Arsenal between 2006-2009, Adebayor left the Gunners in favour of Manchester City and rubbed further salt in the wounds by going on to score against his former club just weeks after his departure.

There was clearly bad blood between Adebayor and his former side, and after scoring, he ran the full length of the pitch to intentionally celebrate in front of the despairing Arsenal fans.

It was a bizarre celebration, and obviously left Gooners fans furious, but for City fans and the majority of neutrals, it was a great watch.

Further controversy surrounded the City forward when Robin van Persie accused his former teammate of kicking him in the head and as a result, Adebayor was handed a three-game ban.

Man City went on to win the game 4-2, but the clash has always been better known for Adebayor's antics. He later apologised for his actions, but the damage was already done, and Arsenal fans won't be forgiving him anytime soon.

Kylian Mbappe

One of the brightest young stars in the game, at 22-years old Mbappe, has already scored over 100 goals and was quick to create a memorable celebration.

I suppose when he scores nearly every game, the Frenchman would quickly run out of celebrations if he didn't settle on a favourite.

As a result, the PSG striker keeps it simpler than most and crosses his arms as if to say that scoring is too easy for him - frankly, most of the time it is.

Mbappe revealed that the celebration was actually inspired by his little brother, who first did it to boast after scoring past him on the video game, FIFA.

Now, after a few years of Mbappe doing it for real, the duo's celebration has been officially added to the game itself. 

It's already an iconic part of a magnificent career, and we have a funny feeling we'll be seeing plenty more of it over the next few years.

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