Cristiano Ronaldo became the first men’s footballer to play 200 international matches during Portugal’s European Championship qualifying win over Iceland on Tuesday.
The Portugal captain, who made his international debut in 2003, achieved the milestone at Reykjavik’s Laugardalsvollur stadium and scored the winning goal in a 1-0 victory.
Prior to Tuesday’s game, Ronaldo said: “Two hundred games played proves the love I have for my country. For me it is an extremely important milestone. It means a lot. [Two hundred] is a beautiful number that [no men’s player] has. I’m very proud because this is something I never thought I could reach. And I’m continuing to set records.”
Ronaldo, 38, is the leading scorer in men’s international football with 122 goals. The Al Nassr forward is also the only man ever to have played in five different European Championship tournaments.
At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Ronaldo became the first male football player to score in five different World Cups.
A five-time Ballon d’Or winner, Ronaldo has two major honours with Portugal — he led his country to success at Euro 2016 and the inaugural UEFA Nations League three years later.
While Ronaldo is the record holder when it comes to men’s internationals, the overall record is held by former USWNT player and 2015 U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame inductee Kristine Lilly with 354 international appearances. (ESPN)
