Portuguese superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, has been awarded a Guinness World Record for the most international appearances for a male football player.
Ronaldo became the first men’s football player to make 200 international appearances and celebrated the milestone by scoring the winning goal in the 89th minute as Portugal beat Iceland 1-0 in European Championship qualifying on Wednesday.
The 38-year-old forward was honoured by Guinness World Records before kickoff for reaching 200 games for Portugal almost 20 years after he made his debut.
Speaking on the feat, Ronaldo said: “So happy. It’s that kind of moment that you never expect to do it, 200 caps. For me, it’s an unbelievable achievement.
“Of course, to score the winning goal, it’s even more special.”
In 2022, after his 196th match for Portugal, Ronaldo equalled the record for the most international football caps by an individual (male), a title he shared with Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa.
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A year later, in March 2023, the former Real Madrid forward made history by breaking his own record and surpassing Al-Mutawa, with a total of 198 giving him the most international caps.
This number was achieved between August 20, 2003, and March 26, 2023.
Ronaldo made his debut for Portugal in a friendly match against Kazakhstan in August 2003.
The following year, he would go on to score his first international goal in Euro 2004 when he found the net against Greece during a group-stage match.
Ronaldo led his team to win the Euro 2016 title, thanks to a 1-0 victory over France in the final.
That marked the country’s first major international title.
After netting in Portugal’s opening game against Ghana in 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Ronaldo became the first player to score in five different World Cups (male).
The match saw Ronaldo equal the record for the most appearances in FIFA World Cup tournaments by a player (male), racking up a total of five appearances.
He shares the title with Antonio Carbajal (Mexico), Lothar Matthäus (Germany), Rafael Marquez (Mexico), Andres Guardado (Mexico), and Lionel Messi (Argentina).
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