Veteran Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo (38 years) increased his tally of international goals and raised it to 122 in 198 matches, by scoring a double during his country’s crushing victory over its host Luxembourg, 6-0, on Sunday, in the qualifiers for the finals scheduled in Germany in the summer of 2024.
Ronaldo had also scored a brace against Liechtenstein in the first match, which ended with his country’s 4-0 victory on Thursday, in a meeting in which he broke the record for the number of international matches, before reinforcing it on Sunday evening by raising it to 198 matches.
The Portuguese national team, European champion in 2016, raised its score to 6 points from two matches in Group X, to put itself on the right track to reach the finals, especially since the draw dropped it in a group within reach that also includes Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia and Iceland, noting that the first and second qualify directly for the finals.
Ronaldo opened the scoring after 9 minutes, taking advantage of a pass from Nuno Mendes.
And soon, the Chelsea striker added, on loan, Joao Felix II, after a quarter of an hour, with a header, after a perfect pass from Bernardo Silva.
Portugal added two more goals in the first half through Silva (18), then Ronaldo with an assist from his former colleague in Manchester United, Bruno Fernandez (31). The goal is Ronaldo’s eleventh against Luxembourg in 11 matches he has played against.
In the second half, substitute Ottavio added the fifth goal (77), then the other substitute, Rafael Leao, missed a penalty kick (85), before making up and ending the goal festival two minutes before the end of the match.