Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo is widely expected to retire from international football following their 5-3 shootout defeat by France in the European Championship quarter-finals on Friday....CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING.>>
Here is a factbox on his international career.
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* Born Feb. 5, 1985 in Funchal, Madeira.
* Represented Portugal in youth football since 2001.
* Made his senior team debut in 2003, aged 18.
* Played for Portugal in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens at the age of 19.
* Played youth club football at Nacional before joining Sporting in 2002.
INTERNATIONAL CAREER:
* Ronaldo has represented Portugal in six European Championship and four World Cup tournaments.
* Ronaldo holds the all-time record for most international goals with 130 for Portugal and is the country’s most-capped player with 212 appearances.
* At the 2004 and 2016 European Championships, he helped Portugal reach the final and won the tournament in 2016.
* Ronaldo made his World Cup debut in 2006 aged 21, scoring his first World Cup goal in a game against Iran.
* Portugal reached the 2006 World Cup semi-finals, which is their best performance at the tournament in Ronaldo’s career.
* In 2018 Ronaldo became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup match.
* He led Portugal to victory in the inaugural UEFA Nations League in 2019.
* In the 2022 World Cup in Qatar Ronaldo became the first and only male player to score in five consecutive editions of the tournament with a total of eight goals.
* EURO MILESTONES:
* Ronaldo marked his European Championship debut against Greece in June 2004 with a goal.
* His overall total of 14 goals is the most at the Euros. France great Michel Platini is in second place with nine.
* Ronaldo was top scorer at the 2012 and 2020 Euros and won the Silver Boot in 2016.
* Having played in every Euros since 2004, Ronaldo holds the record for most tournament appearances and is the only player to score at five in a row. Portugal’s Pepe and Croatia’s Luka Modric are joint-second with five tournament appearances.
* Ronaldo has played 30 matches at the Euros, the most of any player. Portugal team mate Pepe is second with 23.
