Last night, Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals as his country beat Liechtenstein 4-0 in the Euro 2024 qualifier match in Lisbon, and as he set more records.
He became the most capped international men’s footballer with his 197th appearance, breaking Kuwait legend Bader Al-Mutawa’s record of 196 caps. Malaysia icon Soh Chin Ann (195), Egypt hero Ahmed Hassan (184) and Oman great Ahmed Mubarak (183) round off the top five list of most capped international men’s football players.
In Europe, Spain’s now-retired Sergio Ramos comes second to Ronaldo having made 180 caps for La Roja during his 18-year career.
Ronaldo’s two goals took his competitive international goals to 100, becoming the first player to do so. In total, the Al Nassr captain has scored 120 goals for Portugal and everybody else, including his long-time rival Lionel Messi (99) is just playing catch-up.
This was the first Portugal match in 2023, and Ronaldo’s brace (a penalty and a free kick) means he has scored in 20 consecutive years for his country, another feat no other player has managed to achieve. Ronaldo’s first goal came in a 2-1 defeat to Greece in the 2004 Euro group stage match.
When asked about his desire to break records during the pre-match press conference on Wednesday, Ronaldo said he likes it as it acts as his motivation.
“Records are always positive, it’s my motivation and as you know, I like to break records. I have a lot of records, but tomorrow is also a special record. Being the most capped player in history – I have to confess that it is something that leaves me quite proud.
“In addition to being the best scorer ever for the national teams, I would also like to be the most internationally capped player. But not only tomorrow, I would like to have a lot of matches in the future.”
