Cristiano Ronaldo has done the impossible again, becoming the first-ever player to register 200 appearances for an international side. But that’s not enough for one of the best, he did what he has been doing since his first professional debut for Sporting Lisbon in 2002, and that’s score.

With only minutes to go in Reykjavik and a stale mate up to then, Cristiano was in the right place at the right time to score once more to continue his other astonishing record of 123 goals for Portugal.

Ronaldo reacted to his achievement after the match and said: “I am so happy, it’s the kind of moment you never expect to reach 200 caps. For me, it’s an unbelievable achievement. To be in the Guinness World Records is amazing, of course scoring the winning goal makes it even more special.”


After the referee initially disallowed Ronaldo's close-range strike in the 89th minute for offside, the goal was eventually awarded after a VAR replay revealed he was just barely onside. Ronaldo had to wait two minutes to celebrate the victory.

This win against Iceland in group J maintains Portugal’s 100 percent win rate in the qualifiers which keeps them well on track to reach the Euro2024 competition.

Cristiano received the traditional Guinness World Record plaque ahead of the match against Iceland to celebrate his achievement. Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa previously held the record at 196 caps which was reached by Ronaldo in a Euro2024 qualifier against Liechtenstein back in March.

The international appearance record is an add-on to an already stacked list of achievements Ronaldo has broken, such as being the first player to score 800 club career goals which was broken while playing for Manchester United in 2022 before his move to the Saudi league. And he’s also the only player to score in three Champions League finals, which shows how one of the greatest of all time performs on the biggest stage time and time again.

At 38 years old it’s amazing the Portuguese star is still breaking record after record and it only shows the immense dedication and work Ronaldo has put in to be still doing these out-of-the-world performances along with his famous rival Messi.

It still begs the question, is he now the best ever to play the beautiful game?

Author

A passionate Irish journalist with a love for cycling, politics and of course Portugal especially their sausage rolls.

Rory Mc Ginn