Portugal icon Cristiano Ronaldo added to his list of World Cup records by scoring a penalty against Ghana. He is now the first player to score at five editions of the FIFA tournament.
Ronaldo made his competition debut in 2006 and found the net once as the Selecao made the semi-finals in Germany. The forward has since captained his county at the 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 editions. But Portugal have not featured after the Round of 16 since 2006.
Only in the last World Cup four years ago has Ronaldo scored multiple goals, as well, over Portugal’s fixtures. He found the net just once in Germany, at South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014. His efforts in Russia came against Spain (3) and Morocco (1) in their first two games.
Ronaldo is the first player to score at five World Cups after his goal vs Ghana
Along with Spain and Morocco, Ronaldo had scored against Ghana in 2014, North Korea in 2010 and Iran in 2006 before featuring at Qatar 2022. Now, the 192-cap icon has a second goal against Ghana at a World Cup to his name after scoring a penalty in their 3-2 victory.
Ronaldo broke the deadlock at Stadium 974 from the spot after referee Ismail Elfath gave a soft penalty to Portugal. The free agent former Manchester United forward went to the ground easily after poking the ball away from Mohammed Salisu as they arrived together.
The 37-year-old now has 118 goals for the Selecao, alongside 43 assists, over his 192 caps to date. Ronaldo also now has eight career World Cup goals after scoring before Portugal went on to beat Ghana 3-2. He had an otherwise forgettable time bar some wasted shots.
But the record books will show Ronaldo as scoring against Ghana to become the first-ever player to score at five World Cups. It adds to the Portugal icon’s list of records on the FIFA stage. HITC Football takes a look at each of his achievements on the global stage to date…
Ronaldo is one of just five players to appear at five World Cups to date
Ronaldo joined a small clutch of World Cup icons just by making Portugal’s squad for Qatar 2022. He is one of just five players to appear at five editions of the FIFA tournament beside fierce rival and Argentine legend Lionel Messi, who also made his fifth appearance in 2022.
Rafael Marquez only took the number of players to feature at five World Cups to three at Russia 2018. The centre-half made his competition debut as Mexico’s captain at Japan and South Korea 2002. He went on to amass 19 tournament appearances and hit three goals.
It had been 20 years since Lothar Matthaus became the second player to play at five World Cups before Marquez in 2018. The German legend enjoyed a 150-cap career for his nation that featured 25 games and six goals across the 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998 editions.
Matthaus also won the World Cup at Italia 90 to be the only global champion to feature at five editions. Antonio Carbajal of Mexico was the first to achieve the feat in 1966 following caps in 1950, 1954, 1958 and 1962. The goalkeeper also captained El Tri in 1958 and 1962.
Ronaldo is one of 11 players to feature at World Cups 16 years apart
Making Portugal’s World Cup squad for Germany 2006 and Qatar 2022 also saw Ronaldo join 10 others in playing at tournaments 16 years apart. Messi is one of the other 10 as he, likewise, made his debut on the FIFA stage at Germany 2006 and is in Qatar for Argentina.
Playing at five successive tournaments additionally sees Carbajal, Matthaus and Marquez feature among the 11 players. Chile’s Elias was the first to appear at tournaments 16 years apart during 1966 and 1982. Mexico’s Hugo Sanchez followed with caps in 1978 and 1994.
France 1998 saw Giuseppe Bergomi feature at the World Cup for Italy again after debuting at Spain 1982. It was not until 2010 that Rigobert Song of Cameroon added to the list after featuring in 1994. The current Cameroon manager was also the first African to achieve it.
Since Song, just one further player from the African continent has featured at World Cups 16 years apart. Samuel Eto’o of Cameroon joined Colombian goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon in playing for the first time at France 1998 and returning to the world stage for Brazil 2014.
Messi and Ronaldo share a record for the longest gap between a first and last goal
Messi and Ronaldo have been inseparable for most of their careers as the absolute best of a generation. Playing in attacking areas – unlike Mexico goalkeeper Carbajal and defender Marquez plus German midfielder Matthaus – also sees them take a World Cup goal record.
Ronaldo followed Messi by scoring at Qatar 2022 to register goals at World Cups 16 years apart. Both found the back of the net for the first time on the World Cup stage at Germany 2006. But the Argentina legend did not back his goal up with another at South Africa 2010.
Messi has goals at four World Cups after scoring once in 2006, four in 2014, once in 2018 and once in 2022 so far. The 166-cap dynamo registered his first goal in Qatar during a 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia. He broke the deadlock in Lusail with a penalty after only 10 minutes.
Ronaldo took a World Cup record with his hat-trick vs Spain at Russia 2018
Ronaldo scored multiple times in a World Cup game for the first, and so far only, time as Portugal drew 3-3 with Spain at Russia 2018. The forward found the net for all three of his nation’s goals. And in doing so, he became the oldest player to score a World Cup treble.
The forward was 33 years and 130 days old when he flashed three goals past David de Gea in Sochi. Ronaldo broke the deadlock from the penalty spot in just the fourth minute. The Selecao legend added further efforts to make it 2-1 in the 44th and 3-3 in the 88th minute.
Should Ronaldo score a hat-trick at Qatar 2022, the Portugal forward will extend his oldest World Cup treble scorer record. Thus making this year’s edition a double record-breaking FIFA tournament for the five-time Ballon d’Or and five-time Champions League champion.
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