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Cristiano Ronaldo joined Juventus in the summer, looking for a new challenge, after winning almost everything on offer in Spain. While the Portuguese was expected to shine in the Serie A as well, he took a little time to get accustomed to the new country. However, once he regained his goalscoring touch, he showed no signs of stopping.
He has since powered his new club to the top of the league and even scored the winning goal in the Supercoppa Italiana, lifting his first trophy in Italy. However, at the end of last year, Ronaldo achieved a significant feat which registered his names in the record books again.
When he scored against Sampdoria to record his 13th goal in the Serie A, Cristiano Ronaldo became the highest scoring Portuguese in a season in the Serie A. The record previously belonged to Rui Barrios, who had struck 12 times for Juventus in the 1988/89 season.
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It was an achievement that defines the Juventus Striker, however, even though his achievements at club level are widely popular, not many are aware of the records set by Ronaldo with his country, Portugal. As such, today we take a look at five lesser known records set by Ronaldo with his National Team.
#5 Youngest Portuguese Player to reach 100 caps
After becoming a regular feature in the youth teams, Cristiano Ronaldo got his senior debut for Portugal in August 2003, in a 1-0 win over Kazakhstan. His performances then earned him a place in the Euro 2004 squad and it was the start of a fantastic legacy. Subsequently, on 16th December 2012, against Northern Ireland, he became the youngest Portuguese player to reach 100 caps for his country, aged 27 years, 9 months and 18 days.
Incidentally, Ronaldo was then only the third player in the history of the Nation to reach 100 caps, the other two being Luis Figo and Fernando Couto. As of now, Portugal has six players who have joined the 100 club, including Joao Moutinho, Nani and Pepe.
The Portuguese became the third youngest European footballer to reach 100 caps, behind Lukas Podolski of Germany and Kristen Viikmae of Estonia. Six years on, he is still the youngest Portuguese player ever to reach 100 caps for his country and it is not one that many are aware of.
#4 Most Matches played for Portugal in FIFA World Cup
Ronaldo first played in the FIFA World Cup in 2006, when he was a part of a fabulous squad that reached the semi-finals of the tournament and finished fourth. He had six appearances in the tournament and scored one goal.
In the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the Portuguese had four appearances and scored a goal, as his country was knocked out in the round of 16. In the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Ronaldo scored one goal from three appearances as his country failed to clear the group stages.
In the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Ronaldo scored four goals from four appearances as once again Portugal were knocked out at the round of 16 stage.
As of now, Cristiano Ronaldo has 17 appearances in the FIFA World Cup Final tournaments, scoring 7 goals and registering 2 assists. He is Portugal's record appearance holder in World Cups and it is a record not many are aware of.
#3 Most Hattricks
Figo has one, Nuno Gomes has two and Pauleta has three. However, Cristiano Ronaldo leaves them all behind when it comes to hat-tricks with the national team. The Portuguese scored his first hat-trick for his country in September 2013, in a 4-2 win over Northern Ireland in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifications. Three months later in November 2013, he had done it again, this time against Sweden, in a pulsating 3-2 win.
Ronaldo's next hattrick came against Armenia in June 2015, in a 3-2 win in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying. A year later in October 2016, the Portuguese scored his fourth hattrick with his national side against Andorra in 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying. He scored four goals as Portuguese won the game 6-0.
His fifth hat-trick with Portugal was against Faroe Islands in a 5-1 win in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifications. Last year, in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Main Tournament, Ronaldo scored his sixth Hattrick for Portugal against Spain, in a fascinating 3-3 draw in the opening match of the tournament.
As of now, Ronaldo has 6 hattricks with Portugal, a record that won't be broken anytime soon.
#2 Most Capped Player
When Cristiano Ronaldo made his debut for Portugal, he came on to replace Luis Figo, a legend of the game and one of the greatest footballers ever to come out of Portugal. Figo retired as the player with the most international caps for his country - 127, so a piece of history beckoned Ronaldo in opening game of Euro 2016, against Austria. Even though the game ended in a 1-1 draw, he became the most capped Portuguese player, as the game marked his 128th appearance.
Ronaldo made his debut for Portugal in August 2003 and since then has appeared for his country a record 154 times. His last appearance was in the 2018 World Cup, in June 2018. The current players who are close to him are Joao Moutinho, who has 113 caps, Nani, who has 112 caps, Pepe who has 103 caps and Bruno Alves, who has 96 caps. As such, this record might not be broken any time soon as well.
#1 Most International Goals
When we talk about Cristiano Ronaldo and records, it is hard not to have goals in the conversation. The Portuguese is a fantastic goalscorer at both club and country level, and has been making and smashing records at will in the entire span of his career. It is, therefore, quite fitting that he is Portugal's record goalscorer, with 85 goals from 154 appearances.
The Portuguese is second in the list of FIFA All time world top scorer, behind Iran's Ali Daei, who scored 109 goals from 149 appearances from 1993 to 2006. Among the current crop of players, Ronaldo has the most goals, followed by India's Suniel Chhetri, who has 67 goals from 107 games and Argentina's Lionel Messi, who has 65 goals from 128 appearances.
In his country, no one comes close to Ronaldo in the goalscoring charts. Pauleta is second with 47 goals from 88 appearances, while Eusebio is third with 41 goals from 64 appearances. Luis Figo has 32 goals from 127 appearances, while among the active players, only Nani makes up the top ten list. The former Manchester United winger has 24 goals from 112 games so far.
As such, this record too, might stand the test of time and Ronaldo could be remembered in history as the greatest goalscorer ever for Portugal.
