2026 FIFA World Cup: Ronaldo Sets World Record As He Becomes The First Player To Score In 6 World Cup Campaigns
Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score in six World Cup campaigns and silenced his critics as the Portugal captain struck twice in a 5-0 annihilation of Uzbekistan.
The big win in Houston on Tuesday put Portugal on the brink of the knockout rounds and was a resounding response to the 41-year-old’s doubters.
The big one for the day: Cristiano Ronaldo is the first player to score at 6 different World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026).
In case you were wondering Lionel Messi has also played at six World Cups (only other man to do so), but he failed to score for the Diego Maradona coached Argentina side in the 2010 edition.
These are other records he has on his sleeves
Ronaldo also became the oldest player with a multi-goal game at the World Cup (41y, 138d). This breaks the record set by Lionel Messi this tournament
Ronaldo is the second oldest player to score at the World Cup after Cameroon’s Roger Milla (42y, 39d in 1994)
Nuno Mendes is the second Portuguese player to score a direct free kick at the World Cup after… Cristiano Ronaldo vs Spain in 2018
There are three players who hold the unique distinction of being both the youngest and oldest scorer for their country at the men’s FIFA World Cup: Michael Laudrup (Denmark) Lionel Messi (Argentina) and now Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Against Uzbekistan, Ronaldo played his 24th World Cup match for Portugal. Only Lionel Messi (28) and Lothar Matthäus (25) have made more World Cup appearances
Uzbekistan is the 49th nation Ronaldo has scored against. He’s now hit an incredible 145 goals in 230 appearances.
Ronaldo went past Eusebio (9) as Portugal’s top-scorer at the FIFA World Cup.
The gap of 22 years and 183 days between Uzbekistan’s Bekhruz Karimov (18y 320d) and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (41y 138d), became the biggest gap between two starting players in a match in FIFA World Cup history
