Ronaldo breaks men’s international caps record, scores double for Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo broke the men’s international appearance record on Thursday and marked the occasion by scoring twice in Portugal’s 4-0 thrashing of Liechtenstein in Euro 2024 qualifying.

The 38-year-old, who was dropped from the Portuguese first-choice XI during the World Cup in Qatar last year, won a 197th cap for his country in Lisbon as a starter. He netted a 51st-minute penalty after earlier goals from Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva, before drilling home a free-kick 12 minutes later.

It was Ronaldo’s record-extending 120th goal for his country and made him the first man to score 100 times in competitive internationals. Portugal made the perfect start to their qualification campaign with a straightforward win against Liechtenstein.

Cancelo scored the only goal of the first half in the eighth minute but the floodgates opened after the break. Bernardo Silva doubled the advantage less than two minutes into the second period before Ronaldo hammered a penalty into the bottom corner.

A powerful free-kick from the edge of the box flew through the hands of goalkeeper Benjamin Buchel to complete the scoring. Ronaldo was substituted late on for Ramos, with the much expected changing of the guard put on the back burner.

Portugal will visit Luxembourg in their second Group J qualifier on Sunday. They have also been drawn alongside Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland and Slovakia.