Two records tumbled on Tuesday as Ronaldo scored a brace to lead Portugal past Uzbekistan in their second group match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Portugal captain scored in the sixth minute, meeting João Cancelo’s cross with a right-footed finish to put Portugal ahead and become the only player to score in six World Cups.
He added his second goal in the 39th minute, latching onto a pass from Bruno Fernandes before firing home at the near post to extend Portugal’s lead.
The two goals edged him closer to 1,000 career goals, which stands at 975.
Portugal needed to make a statement having laboured to a 1-1 draw against Congo DR some days ago, much to the criticism directed at Ronaldo.
While Uzbekistan are certainly not a team to measure Portugal’s strength, it is a World Cup that has seen some upsets, especially with some Uzbekistani players playing in top teams across Europe.
When Ronaldo, however, opened the scoring, it was just a matter of how many and when, and not if, as Nuno Mendes soon made it 2-0 in the 17th minute from a free kick, much to Ronaldo’s admiration.
Then Ronaldo made it three after being teed up by former club mate Bruno Fernandes in the 39th minute.
An own goal in the 60th minute from Uzbekistani keeper Abduvokhid Nematov made it four before substitute Rafael Leão in the 87th minute made it five.
For all of Ronaldo’s efforts to get a hat-trick, he could not and would hope for an even better return in their final group game against Colombia.
However, the 41-year-old moved further up the list of oldest World Cup goalscorers, sitting behind Cameroon legend Roger Milla, who scored at the age of 42 during the 1994 tournament in the United States.
The Portuguese forward’s scoring record at the World Cup now stands at 10 goals across his appearances in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, and the current edition.
Meanwhile, his career tally continues to approach the 1,000-goal mark, with Ronaldo widely reported to have scored 975 official goals for club and country, keeping alive one of football’s most closely watched milestones.
Across his international career, Ronaldo remains Portugal’s all-time leading scorer with 143 goals in 226 appearances, while continuing to add to his legacy as one of the sport’s most prolific forwards.
(The Whistler)
