Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring his side’s first goal during the Euro 2024 group J qualifying soccer match between Iceland and Portugal in Reykjavík, Iceland, Tuesday, June 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Árni Torfason)
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo made history by becoming the first men’s player to reach 200 international appearances. He marked this milestone by scoring the winning goal in the 89th minute during Portugal’s 1-0 victory over Iceland in the European Championship qualifying match. Ronaldo, who received an honor from Guinness World Records before the game, celebrated his achievement by securing the late winner from close range. This crucial goal helped Portugal maintain their perfect record of four wins in Group J, keeping them on track for qualification to Euro 2024.
In addition to his record-breaking appearance, Ronaldo also extended his lead as the highest-scoring player in international football by netting his 123rd goal for Portugal. The 38-year-old expressed his elation, describing the achievement as unbelievable and highlighting the added significance of scoring the winning goal.
Earlier in the qualifiers, Erling Haaland scored twice in Norway’s 3-1 victory over Cyprus, while Romelu Lukaku replicated the feat in Belgium’s 3-0 win against Estonia. However, Robert Lewandowski and his Poland team suffered a disappointing defeat, squandering a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 to Moldova.
In other football news, Germany, the host of Euro 2024, faced a 2-0 loss to Colombia in a friendly match.
Furthermore, Luxembourg caused an upset by defeating Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 away, with goals from Danel Sinani and Yvandro Borges Sanches, while Slovakia secured a 1-0 victory over Liechtenstein.
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