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Cristiano Ronaldo wrote one of the most glorious pages in world football this Tuesday by becoming the first player in history to score in six different World Cups, after netting a brace in the held at the NRG Stadium in Houston.
At 41 years old, the Portuguese captain opened the score in the sixth minute with a shot from inside the box following a cross from Joao Cancelo, and he scored again in the 39th minute to make it 3-0 before halftime, thus completing his historic double.
These two goals allowed him to tally scoring performances in the editions of 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026, a sequence of twenty years that no other footballer has achieved or come close to matching.
Until this Tuesday, Ronaldo shared the record of having scored in five different World Cups with Lionel Messi, but the Argentine did not score in South Africa 2010, so the Portuguese now surpasses him in that specific category.
The double also allowed him to reach 10 goals in World Cups, surpassing the nine scored by the legend Eusébio in the 1966 World Cup, a record that had remained intact for 60 years.
With that figure, CR7 became the all-time top scorer for Portugal in the World Cup, taking the throne from the "Black Panther" that seemed eternal.
Additionally, he set the record for being the oldest player to score a brace in the tournament's history, and for the longest interval between his first and last World Cup goals: 20 years exactly since his scoring debut in Germany 2006.
The goal also raised his official career tally to 975, keeping him as the all-time leading scorer in football.
The context of the match added pressure to the moment: Portugal arrived with just one point after the 1-1 draw against the Democratic Republic of the Congo in their debut, and Ronaldo had gone ten consecutive matches without scoring in World Cups and European Championships.
The response was emphatic: Portugal thrashed their opponent 5-0 with additional goals from Nuno Mendes in the 17th minute, an own goal by Nematov in the 60th, and a strike from Rafael Leão in the 87th, dominating the match with 67% possession and 15 shots, eight of which were on target.
The result propelled the Portuguese team to the top of Group K with four points, while Uzbekistan —making its debut in the World Cup, led by the Italian Fabio Cannavaro— is left without any points.
The generational rivalry with Messi continues on another front: the Argentine became the all-time top scorer in World Cup history with 17 goals, surpassing Miroslav Klose, a milestone that Ronaldo does not aspire to with his 10 World Cup goals. However, the Portuguese holds the only record that the Argentine cannot match: having scored in six different editions of the World Cup.
Portugal will compete in their next match on June 27 against Colombia at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, with their qualification for the knockout stage nearly secured and Ronaldo more alive than ever in his quest for the one major title that still eludes him: the World Cup.
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