Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo drew level with Iran’s Ali Daei (109) and became the joint top-scorer in men’s international football. He achieved the feat in Portugal’s Euro 2020 game against France on Wednesday (local time) at the Puskas Arena in Budapest.
Daei, nicknamed the ‘Shariar’ (King in Persian), scored a remarkable 109 goals in 149 appearances for Iran between 1993 and 2006, an achievement many thought would never be matched. Daei has said on several occasions that he would be “delighted” if Ronaldo broke his record, as he believes the Juventus striker ranks among the best three players in history, alongside Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona.
Canada’s Christine Sinclair has 186 goals, which is the all-time international record for most goals scored.
Ronaldo scored two goals from the spot against France and as a result, he now has 109 goals from 176 matches for Portugal. He has so far scored in Portugal’s every Euro 2020 group stage game and if he scores one more goal, he will become the highest scorer in men’s international football.
After scoring in every Euro 2020 game, Ronaldo has also become the first Portuguese striker to register goals in all three group stage matches in the competition.
Ronaldo is the first player to appear at five editions of the men’s tournament and has scored five times in three Group F games. The Juventus striker has now scored 14 European Championship goals, five more than French great Michel Platini, who netted nine times when he led France to glory in 1984.
The match between Portugal and France ended in a 2-2 draw and as a result, both teams sealed qualification for the round of 16 stage.
From Group F, Germany also managed to seal qualification for the round of 16 stage. Earlier on Wednesday, Spain defeated Slovakia 5-0 while Sweden outclassed Poland 3-2. Spain and Sweden both qualified for the round of 16 stage.
