After the 2-0 win against North Macedonia on Tuesday, Cristiano Ronaldo made it to the list of players who have been part of 5 FIFA world cups. The list includes players like Germany’s Lothar Matthaus, Mexico’s Rafa Marquez and Antonio Carbajal, and Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon. With Argentina being qualified, Messi is also part of the elite list.
After an assist from Ronaldo in the first half, Bruno Fernandes started the scoring for the hosts, and he added another goal in the second half to ensure Portugal’s sixth consecutive World Cup appearance.
“This is a special victory,” Fernandes said. “We reached our goal, which was what mattered. Portugal has played better matches, but this one will stay in our memories because it gave us a place in the World Cup.”
Ronaldo has pleasant memories of Porto’s Dragao Stadium, and his World Cup playoff victory on Tuesday adds to that list. In the opening game of the 2004 European Championship, against Greece, he scored his first-ever goal for Portugal. Five years later, Ronaldo scored the first goal to be recognized by the FIFA Puskas Award, which is given for the greatest goal of the season. A long-range shot for Manchester United against Porto in the Champions League helped them reach the semi-finals.
Portugal has won six Fifa World Cups
“Goal achieved, we’re at the Qatar World Cup,” Ronaldo said on Instagram. “We’re in our rightful place! Thank you to all the Portuguese people for the tireless support! Let’s go Portugal!”
In the 2019 UEFA Nations League semi-final against Switzerland, Ronaldo sparkled once more at the Dragao. He scored a hat-trick to lead Portugal to the final against the Netherlands, which they won to give him another championship. During his career, Ronaldo has appeared in 17 World Cup matches for Portugal. Thus, scoring seven goals in the world’s most prestigious sporting event.
In the 2018 campaign, he scored four goals, including a hat-trick against Spain during the group round. With Ronaldo in the team, Portugal has won six World Cups, lost five, and drawn six. With 115 goals, Ronaldo is the first player in men’s international soccer history to have scored at least one goal in the finals of nine major tournaments in a row.