Tuesday night at the FIFA World Cup was a memorable one for Portuguese football legend Cristiano Ronaldo. After flopping in the first match, Ronaldo proved in the very next game that he isn’t called the GOAT, meaning Greatest Of All Time, for nothing. The legendary footballer created history by scoring two goals against Uzbekistan.
Cristiano Ronaldo has now become the oldest player in the world to score multiple goals in a single FIFA World Cup match, breaking Lionel Messi’s record. Portugal defeated Uzbekistan 5-0 in the Group K match. Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice. The chants of “Ronaldo, Ronaldo!” echoed through Houston Stadium during the match. Portugal secured a dominant win thanks to Ronaldo’s brilliant performance. Nuno Mendes and Rafael Leão also scored. There was also an own goal courtesy of Uzbekistan goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov.
According to ESPN Insights’ X handle, at 41 years and 138 days old, Ronaldo became the oldest player in FIFA World Cup history to score more than one goal in a match. He broke the previous record held by Lionel Messi, which the Argentine star set on Monday, June 22, by scoring twice against Austria. Messi scored twice at the age of 38 years and 363 days.
Furthermore, Ronaldo became the second-oldest player to score at least one goal in a FIFA World Cup, behind Roger Milla who scored at 42 years and 39 days old.
Notably, Ronaldo also became Portugal’s all-time leading scorer in FIFA World Cup history, taking his tally to 10 World Cup goals. He surpassed legendary forward Eusébio, who scored 9 goals at World Cups.
At 41 years and 138 days, Ronaldo also became Portugal’s oldest goalscorer in a FIFA World Cup. Significantly, he scored against Iran in 2006 when he was 21 years old. Moreover, he had become the youngest player to score for his country in the tournament.