Cristiano Ronaldo broke the world record for appearances in men’s selection after being established this Thursday evening with Portugal for the qualifying match for Euro 2024 against Liechtenstein.
The 38-year-old striker, currently at Saudi club Al-Nassr, honored his 197th cap and overtook Kuwaiti Bader Al-Mutawa with whom he shared the record until then. Ronaldo made his international debut in August 2003 in a friendly against Kazakhstan.
In nearly 20 years of international career, the Portuguese captain has faced 70 different nations and participated in all the major international competitions since Euro 2004, i.e. five European Championships and five World Cups.
He won the first two major trophies in the history of his country: Euro 2016 and the League of Nations 2019.
The five-time Ballon d’Or already holds the world record for goals in selection since September 1, 2021 after overtaking, thanks to a double against Ireland, the Iranian Ali Daei and his 109 achievements. He now has 118 units and has the opportunity to increase that total on Thursday night. He will thus accumulate two of the most important records in men’s football.
For this meeting, the new coach of Portugal, the Spaniard Roberto Martinez, made a change of system. The Seleçao will present themselves with a three-man defense, which had very rarely happened during the eight years of the mandate of its predecessor Fernando Santos.