The honour for the 32-year-old Forlan, who plays for Italian Serie A's Inter Milan, comes after the strikers' goal in Uruguay's second qualifying match against Paraguay Tuesday night, taking him to 32 goals scored for the national team.
"I'm happy. This goal was special because we knew it was a good moment to dominate the game," Xinhua quoted Forlan as saying.
He scored against Paraguay in a 1-1 drawn match in the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion, which saw him surpass the previous record of Hector Scarone, who played for Uruguay between 1916 and 1939.
Forlan, top scorer in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, is also the player with most matches played for the South American nation with a total of 84 official games.
Since his debut with the national team in 2002, Forlan has seen 34 victories, 28 ties and 22 defeats.
He moved to Inter this summer after serving Atletico de Madrid and topping the scorers' standings in the Spanish league for two seasons.
Published 13 October 2011, 07:55 IST