Cristiano Ronaldo announced his retirement from the Portugal national team this Thursday, bringing to an end a career packed with records. Since making his debut in 2003, the forward has built an impressive collection of individual milestones.
Here are the main records set by Ronaldo during his Portugal career:
Records held by Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal
• Most appearances for a men’s national team in history: 234 matches, a world record.
• All-time leading scorer in men’s international football: 146 goals, surpassing Iran’s Ali Daei, who scored 109.
• First player to appear at six World Cups: he featured at the 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026 editions.
• First player to score at six World Cups: he achieved the feat in 2026.
• First player to appear at six editions of the European Championship: he featured between 2004 and 2024.
• All-time leading scorer at the European Championship: 14 goals across six editions.
• Most goals in European Championship qualifying matches: he also holds the competition’s qualifying record.
• Most consecutive years scoring for his national team: he found the net for 23 straight years, from 2004 to 2026.
• Most appearances in the final tournaments of the European Championship: 30 matches.
• Most European Championship appearances, including qualifying: 74 matches.
• Most European Championship goals including qualifying: 55 goals.
• Only player to score three goals in three different editions of the European Championship: he achieved the feat in 2012, 2016 and 2020.
• Most goals combined at the World Cup and European Championship: 25 goals in the final tournaments of the two competitions.
• Most combined appearances at the World Cup and European Championship: 57 matches.
• All-time leading scorer in World Cup qualifying: 41 goals.
• First player to reach 10 hat-tricks for a men’s national team: he set an unprecedented record in international football.
A trophy-laden career and longevity
In addition to his individual records, Ronaldo ends his international career at the age of 41 with three major honours for Portugal: the 2016 European Championship and the 2019 and 2025 editions of the Nations League.
He spent more than 23 years representing Portugal, since making his debut against Kazakhstan in August 2003.