Cristiano Ronaldo becomes first male player to score in 21 consecutive years with national team after netting against Ireland

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in the 3-0 friendly win over Ireland on Tuesday to script history. His first goal made the 39-year-old the first male player to score in 21 straight years for his national team.

Having made his Selecao debut way back as a precocious teenager in a 1-0 friendly win over Kazakhstan in August 2003, he opened his account in Portugal's 2-1 home defeat to eventual winners Portugal in their Euro 2004 opener.

It was Ronaldo's European Championship debut, and he has now scored in his 21st straight year in international football.

Fast forward 20 years, Ronaldo doubled the Selecao's advantage five minutes into the second period after Joao Felix had given them a 1-0 first-half lead against Ireland. The 39-year-old added a second at the hour mark to complete a resounding win.

As per CR7 Timeline, no other male player has scored in 21 straight years in international football.

For context, Brazilian women's legend Martha scored in 20 straight years for her country earlier this year. She accomplished the milestone when she found the back of the net (twice) in a 4-0 win over Jamaica in June.

Christine Sinclair of Canada holds the record - men or women - in scoring in most consecutive years (23), before retiring in 2023, a year she didn't score.

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Which is Cristiano Ronaldo's most prolific scoring year for Portugal?

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo is widely regarded as one of the best players in the beautiful game's history. Approaching the 900 career-goal milestone, Ronaldo already holds a slew of records in men's international football.

His tallies of 130 goals in 207 games are both unparalleled. So, which is Ronaldo's most prolific year in international football? Surely, it's from one of his younger years?

Well, not quite. Ronaldo scored 14 international goals in 2019, the year he turned 34. It included hat-tricks (one was a quadruple effort) against Lithuania in Euro 2020 qualifying. He also scored a hat-trick in the Nations League semifinal win over Switzerland, a tournament Portugal would go on to win.