Ranking Cristiano Ronaldo's 5 best years with Portugal

#3 2021

Hungary v Portugal - UEFA Euro 2020: Group F

Cristiano Ronaldo started 2021 as part of the defending Euro champions. Come June, he led Portugal into Euro 2020’s “Group of Death”. Portugal’s failure at the quadrennial tournament did a disservice to Ronaldo’s performances.

The 36-year-old was simply breathtaking during the group stage games. He scored five goals in three matches. The 6’1” tall striker contributed one goal and one assist against Germany before scoring a brace against France. Belgium knocked Portugal out in the Round of 16.

Soon after Euro 2020, Ronaldo scored two goals against Ireland. The effort saw him overtake Ali Daei to become the all-time top scorer in international football. Ronaldo scored 13 goals last year, which has resulted in his overall tally reaching 115 goals.

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#2 2016

Portugal v France - Final: UEFA Euro 2016

2016 has to go down as one of the best years in the Portugal national team’s history. For a nation that has never won the FIFA World Cup, winning their first-ever European Championship was huge. Needless to say, Ronaldo was at the heart of it.

The Portugal hero scored and assisted three goals each during Euro 2016. He suffered an unfortunate injury in the final but provided motivation for the team off the touchline. Eder scored an extra-time goal to help Portugal see off France.

In the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers later that year, Ronaldo scored seven goals in just three appearances. This included a four-goal haul against Andorra. Overall, the Manchester United forward made 16 goal contributions (13 goals, three assists) in 2016.

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#1 2019

Portugal v Netherlands - UEFA Nations League Final

Cristiano Ronaldo led Portugal from the front in the inaugural edition of the Nations League. The former Juventus forward scored a sublime hat-trick against Switzerland in the semi-final. Portugal won the final against the Netherlands a few days later, courtesy of a Goncalo Guedes strike.

This was Portugal’s second major trophy. Both have come during Cristiano Ronaldo’s era, further increasing his legend. Ronaldo scored a whopping 14 goals in just ten goals in 2019. Those numbers are unprecedented, especially considering none of those games were international friendlies.

In six European qualifiers during the second half of 2019, the serial goalscorer was at the top of his game. He scored 11 goals in those six fixtures, including four strikes against Lithuania and a hat-trick against Lithuania. The sheer amount of goals in 2019 is enough to rank it at number one.