What records can Cristiano Ronaldo break at the Qatar 2022 World Cup?

It’s only a matter of hours until we get a first glimpse of Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal at the Qatar 2022 World Cup. A Seleção get their Group H campaign underway against Ghana at Stadium 974 on Thursday and Ronaldo will be keen to get off to a fast start as he looks to set another batch of records and inspire his country to World Cup glory for the very first time.

Ronaldo heads into the tournament in Qatar as a free agent having had his contract with Manchester United terminated as a result of his controversial quotes in an interview with British TV personality Piers Morgan, in which he criticised the club and a number of its key figures, including its owners and manager Erik Ten Hag.

While a lot of the talk surrounding Ronaldo has been fairly negative in recent times, he heads into Portugal’s first game against Ghana looking to get back to doing what he has done best over the years – scoring goals and breaking records.

How many World Cups has Cristiano Ronaldo played in?

The 2022 World Cup will be Cristiano Ronaldo’s fifth tournament. He made his debut in the competition in a group stage game against Angola in 2006 and has since played in the 2010, 2014 and 2018 editions. Only four players have appeared in five World Cups – Mexico’s Antonio Carbajal and Rafael Márquez, Germany’s Lothar Matthäus and Ronaldo’s arch-nemesis Lionel Messi, who reached that milestone playing for Argentina on Tuesday. The former Real Madrid legend would need to be involved at the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA, by which time he will be 41, to take that record outright.

How many goals does Cristiano Ronaldo need to become Portugal’s all-time World Cup record goalscorer?

One of Ronaldo’s objectives for this tournament will be to become Portugal’s all-time top scorer at the World Cup. As things stand, he has scored seven World Cup goals, two less than Eusebio, who incredibly scored nine goals in the 1966 edition in England. Were Ronaldo to net a hat-trick against Ghana – stranger this have happened – he could hold this record by the end of the day.

Cristiano Ronaldo: the first player to score in five World Cups?

Germany 2006 (one goal), South Africa 2010 (one goal), Brazil 2014 (one goal) and Russia 2018 (four goals). Cristiano Ronaldo has scored in each of the four World Cups he has played in and will become the first player in history to score in five tournaments if he finds the net in Qatar.

Cristiano Ronaldo: most games as captain at a World Cup?

Ronaldo has captained Portugal at the World Cup on 11 occasions since his first game with the armband in September 2007. To surpass Mexican Rafael Márquez’s record of 17 World Cup games as captain, Portugal would have to reach the final of the Qatar 2022 World Cup and Ronaldo would have to captain the side in each match.

As ever with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, you wouldn’t bet against him.