A brace against Uzbekistan in the second matchday of Group K helped Cristiano Ronaldo become the first player to score in 6 World Cups.
In the 6th minute, at the Houston stadium, Joao Cancelo dribbled skillfully on the right wing past two players before delivering a cross inside. Ronaldo was present at the near post to tap it in with one touch, hitting Uzbekistan’s net. The Portuguese players rushed over to celebrate wildly with their captain, before CR7 concluded with his familiar spinning celebration.
This goal helped Portugal lead 1-0, while writing Ronaldo into history as the first player to score in 6 World Cups. Following behind is Lionel Messi with 5 tournaments in the same period. Both also share the record for appearing in 6 tournaments.
All of Ronaldo’s goals have come in the group stage. The striker born in 1985 made his World Cup debut with a goal that sealed a 2-0 victory against Iran in 2006. He added two more goals in the next two tournaments, before scoring 4 goals in 2018, featuring a hat-trick against Spain. In 2022, Ronaldo scored another goal in a 3-2 victory over Ghana.
The former Man Utd and Real forward also became the second-oldest player to score at a World Cup, at 41 years and 138 days old. The record belongs to legendary Roger Milla at 42 years and 39 days old, set in 1994.
The goal against Uzbekistan also relieved a lot of pressure for the Portuguese superstar after drawing a blank in the opening match against DR Congo. Meanwhile, Messi has scored 5 goals, while Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland also have 4 goals each.
On X, former England and Man Utd center-back Rio Ferdinand posted a status with the two words “shut up”, as a way of supporting his former teammate to fire back at public opinion. Commentator Piers Morgan wrote: “Boom. Ronaldo scores, as I said. Brilliant finish by the true goat of football. His haters, start crying.”
In the 39th minute, Bruno Fernandes broke through the middle and slipped a pass into the penalty area for Ronaldo to shoot across goal and complete his brace. He became the oldest player to score more than once in a World Cup match. The old record belonged to Messi, at 38 years and 357 days old, set on June 16 in Argentina’s 3-0 defeat of Algeria.
Ronaldo later squandered a few chances, missing the opportunity to reclaim the record for the oldest player to score a hat-trick at a World Cup from Messi. The Argentine forward broke Ronaldo’s old record also in the match against Algeria.
With 10 goals, Ronaldo also broke a 60-year-old record by becoming the top Portuguese goalscorer at the World Cup. The old record belonged to the late legend Eusebio with 9 goals in 6 matches during the 1966 tournament. Ronaldo is also the player with the most appearances (230 matches) and the most goals (145) for a national team in football history.
Another unique statistic indicates that CR7 is both the youngest and oldest player to score for a national team at the World Cup. Two others to achieve this are Messi and Denmark’s Michael Laudrup.
Sandwiched between Ronaldo’s two goals, Portugal doubled their lead with a free-kick close to the penalty area by Nuno Mendes in the 17th minute. Ronaldo also stood over the free-kick, and when everyone thought he would shoot as usual for his personality, Mendes took the shot. “Ronaldo is not just an excellent striker. He is also a brilliant actor who fooled me,” former England international Lee Dixon commented on ITV. “The goalkeeper was also fooled. He should have saved Mendes’s shot but was distracted by Ronaldo.
