Cristiano crowns record 200th appearance in style
Cristiano celebrated his double century in his own inimitable way, by hitting a late winner to preserve Portugal’s 100% record in Group J.
Everything went to plan as Cristiano made his 200th appearance for Portugal in Reykjavik. Right up until the final minute of regulation time, Tuesday’s Group J European qualifier against hosts Iceland looked like it was heading for a draw.
But nothing was going to put the dampeners on a milestone evening for Cristiano. The Al-Nassr forward popped up at the back post for simple tap-in that was given, to his delight, after a VAR review. It was his 123rd goal for Portugal - no player has made as many appearances or scored as many goals for their national team.
He told uefa.com cameras in the flash zone afterwards, “For me it’s an unbelievable achievement, to be in the Guinness Book of World Records, it’s amazing. And of course to score the winning goal, it’s even more special. I have to say thank you to the stadium, to Iceland, the people and the fans at the stadium for doing this kind of party for me. The Portugal national team, the federation... I have to say thank you to all of them, they made my day. We didn’t play so well but sometimes football is like that. They are an aggressive team, they kick a lot. But we scored a goal and, in my opinion, we deserved it. I’m so happy because of 200 caps, but this is even more special”.
For most professionals, reaching 100 caps is considered quite an achievement. But until now, no player has ever made it to 200 appearances at full international level.
A lot has happened since Cristiano made his debut for the senior side as a gangly teenager almost two decades ago. It was a relatively inauspicious start to his international career - Luis Felipe Scolari brought him on for the second half of Portugal’s friendly against Kazakhstan on 20 August 2003. Today, 20 years on, he is one of the most successful players in history with whole host of records and achievements - his 200th cap being the latest.
Most-capped international players in history
- 200 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
- 196 Bader Al-Mutawa (Kuwait)
- 195 Soh Chin Ann (Malaysia)
- 184 Ahmed Hassan (Egypt)
- 180 Sergio Ramos (Spain)
- 179 Andrés Guardado (Mexico)
- 178 Mohamed Al-Deayea (Saudi Arabia)
- 177 Claudio Suárez (Mexico)
- 176 Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)
Portugal coach Roberto Martínez praised his players and Cristiano afterwards, telling reporters, “It was a nice script. There was an incredible celebration, the first men’s player ever in world football to get 200 international games. It takes a lot of commitment, a lot of effort and it’s an example. An example for Portuguese football and example for the country of Portugal and world football.”