Cristiano Ronaldo: The Unique Record Awaiting Portugal Star if He Scores at the World Cup

Cristiano Ronaldo: The Unique Record Awaiting Portugal Star if He Scores at the World Cup

Rene Otinga
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:15 PM
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  • Cristiano Ronaldo is set to lead the line for the Portugal national team in the World Cup, which is less than three weeks away
  • The 37-year-old will possibly feature in his last World Cup in Qatar, but has another record in sight in the tournament
  • This will be his fifth World Cup since making his debut for the Portugal national team nearly two decades ago

Cristiano Ronaldo is set to spearhead the Portugal national team’s attack in Qatar, in what is likely his last-ever World Cup.

Portugal have been placed in arguably one of the toughest groups and will come up against African giants Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea in Group H.

While the Selecao have an uphill task in proceeding to the last 16 of the World Cup, it would be a mistake to rule them out, especially with a player like Cristiano Ronaldo on the side.

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Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal during the UEFA Nations league match against Spain at the Estadio Municipal de Braga on September 27. Photo: David S. Bustamante.
Source: Getty Images

The Manchester United man has the most goals in the international men’s game with 117 strikes in 191 games - and it is quite easy to bet the 37-year-old will be on target again to increase those numbers.

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If he ends up scoring at the World Cup in Qatar, CR7 will have a unique record of becoming the first player to score in five different editions of the global spectacle.

Ronaldo’s past World Cup goals

His first World Cup goal came in the 2006 edition in Germany, where he scored against Iran while wearing the number 17 shirt.

At the time, Ronaldo was the youngest Portuguese player to score in a FIFA World Cup match at 21 years and 132 days as per Olympics.com.

Then came 2010 and Ronaldo had morphed into one of the best players in World football. With a Ballon d’Or and Champions League under his belt, Ronaldo sealed a dream move to Real Madrid.

In that tournament, Ronaldo scored a scrappy goal in Portugal’s 7-0 win over North Korea. The Selecao went on to get knocked out by eventual champions Spain.

2014 was when Ronaldo was at the peak of his powers but unfortunately, his World Cup dream was slightly hampered by injury.

Portugal suffered a 4-0 defeat to Germany in their opening group game, and this was followed by a 2-2 draw with the USA. In their final group game, Ronaldo found the net in a 2-1 win over Ghana.

Ronaldo then famously scored a hat-trick in the 2018 World Cup against Spain in Portugal’s opening group game, in one of his most memorable individual performances.

That treble made him the oldest player to score a hat trick in FIFA World Cup history

In total, Ronaldo has six goals at the World Cup in four editions of the tournament.

Ronaldo buys Portugal's most expensive house

Sports Brief also earlier reported on Ronaldo's recent purchase of a house worth a staggering $11 million.

Located in the region of Cascais, the villa is estimated to be worth $21 million after remodelling and all the construction.

The three-storeyed villa sits on 544 square meters and features incredible extras, including gardens and a fabulous swimming pool.

Authors
Rene Otinga photo
Rene Otinga
Rene Otinga is a sports journalist with over eight years of working experience in digital media. Rene's experience includes working as a Copywriter at X News Kenya and TUKO.co.ke.