Euro 2020: Ronaldo smashes these records as Portugal beat Hungary
Cristiano Ronaldo scripted a host of records as European Championships winners Portugal beat Hungary 3-0 in the 2020 edition. Portugal started their UEFA Euro 2020 Group F campaign with a brilliant win. Ronaldo scored two goals for his side, including a penalty. Notably, all three Portugal goals came after the 80th minute as Hungary's resistance ended. Here are the records that were broken.
Ronaldo alongside the likes of Gerd Muller (West Germany, 1972); Michel Platini (France, 1984); Rudi Voller (West Germany, 1984 and 1988); Wayne Rooney (England, 2004); and Antoine Griezmann (France, 2016) had scored at least twice in two games at the Euros prior to this match. The veteran Juventus has scripted a new record by scoring a brace for the third time or more.
Ronaldo, who was tied with former Italian hero Michel Platini in terms of most goals scored in the European Championships, has steered clear. Ronaldo has raced to 11 goals at Euros, surpassing Platini (9).
Ronaldo holds the record for most tournaments with at least one goal. He has become the first player to script this record in five tournaments. Ronaldo has extended the record of scoring at least one goal in most matches (8). Ronaldo has steered clear of Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the top for most tournaments with at least two goals.
🇵🇹 Cristiano Ronaldo = all-time EURO top scorer 🔥
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) June 15, 2021
⚽️1⃣1⃣ #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/Df3N84J5Er
Ronaldo has raced to 106 career goals for Portugal. He is now three short of equaling former Iran legend Ali Daei for the most international goals (109). He has become the first player to appear at five Euro final tournaments.
Cristiano Ronaldo 🤩
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) June 15, 2021
⚽️ All-time EURO top scorer (11 goals)
🇵🇹 All-time top scorer for Portugal (106 goals)
👕 First player to appear at 5 EURO final tournaments
👏 First player to score at 5 consecutive EURO final tournaments #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/rjJ7C5iXo1
As per Opta, at 36 years and 130 days, Ronaldo has become the oldest player to score two-plus goals in a European Championship match. He has taken the record from Andriy Shevchenko, who was 35 years and 256 days when he scored a brace against Sweden for Ukraine in 2012.
Portugal's 3-0 win over Hungary is now the joint-biggest win by the reigning champions of the European Championships in their first match of the tournament, equaling the tally of the Soviet Union's 3-0 win over Denmark in 1964. Portugal are now the first team in European Championships history to score three goals in the final 10 minutes of a match.
It was a frustrating first 45 minutes for Portugal, who were denied largely by Peter Gulacsi. Diogo Jota had two crucial chances as Ronaldo missed a sitter as well. In the 84th minute, Raphael Guerreiro's shot took a big deflection to hand Portugal the lead. Ronaldo converted a penalty next before he got his second after cutting in from the right of the box.
As per Squawka Football, Ronaldo has now scored in 11 consecutive senior international tournaments; the longest streak by any player in history. Ronaldo has now won 12 games at the European Championships, more than any other player in the history of the tournament.
