Cristiano Ronaldo has equaled Ali Daey’s record-breaking international goal record after scoring his 109th goal for Portugal.
The 36-year-old has set a record that tumbles at Euro 2020 and has become the first player to ever appear at five different European championships before becoming the competition’s leading scorer of all time.
On his way into his team’s decisive clash against France on Wednesday night, Ronaldo had already scored three goals for the tournament, leaving him with 107 goals in 177 international matches.
The Portuguese superstar was just two goals behind the international goal scorer’s record ever held by Daei before the match with Didier Deschamp’s side, although his stride has now seen him level with the former Iran forward.
Ronaldo opened the scoring from the penalty spot just after half an hour after Hugo Lloris was penalized for a foul on Danilo Pereira.
France made a fantastic comeback to take a 2-1 lead at night, but Ronaldo’s big moment came with an hour played when the referee again pointed to the spot after a handball by Jules Kounde, allowing the Juventus man to play home.
Cristiano Ronaldo was hanging on to France / Laszlo Balogh – Pool / Getty Images
Brace moved Ronaldo to five goals for Euro 2020, but more importantly sees him level with Daei on 109 international goals.
The former Iran international managed to tune in to just 149 international appearances – 29 fewer than Ronaldo did – although the Juve man seems destined to get over his speech in the near future.
The Portuguese forward’s international career started way back in 2003 when he made his debut by former national team coach Agostinho Oliveira.
Since then, he has become his country’s captain and talisman and finally secured his first batch of major international silverware in 2016 when Portugal was named European Championship winner, with Ronaldo topping his side in the competition with three goals.
