Ronaldo to join select group with 5th World Cup appearance
From clapping to smiling to singing, Cristiano Ronaldo took just a few moments to have a good time together with his Portugal teammates after qualifying for what could be his record-tying fifth World Cup.
The very best scorer in males’s worldwide soccer has by no means received the game’s greatest prize, however he’ll get one other probability this 12 months in Qatar.
“The years go by, however the targets all the time stay the identical,” Ronaldo wrote on Instagram on Wednesday.
4 different gamers have made it to 5 World Cups – Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon from 1998-2014, Mexico defender Rafael Marquez from 2002-18, Germany midfielder Lothar Matthaeus from 1982-98 and Mexico goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal from 1950-66. Buffon was within the Italy squad in 1998 however did not play within the event.
Others with an opportunity to affix Ronaldo by enjoying in Qatar are Argentine nice Lionel Messi, Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa and Mexico midfielder Andres Guardado, who even have been to 4 World Cups. Spain defender Sergio Ramos additionally took half in 4 World Cups, however he hasn’t been referred to as up by coach Luis Enrique just lately.
Ronaldo will likely be enjoying in his tenth straight main event in a streak that began on the 2004 European Championship and consists of 4 World Cups and 4 different European tournaments, a contest he helped Portugal win in 2016.
Ronaldo is the one participant to have scored a minimum of as soon as in 9 prime tournaments in a row, and can have the ability to prolong lots of his worldwide information in Qatar, together with his 115-goal mark with the nationwide crew. He is also the lively Portugal participant with probably the most World Cup targets with seven, two shy of Eusebio’s 9.
In 17 World Cup video games, Ronaldo has six wins, six losses and 5 attracts. He has two assists in these matches, and that is how he helped his crew win on Tuesday, establishing the opening aim by Bruno Fernandes within the first half on the Estadio do DragÃeo in Porto. Fernandes added the second after halftime.
“Purpose completed,” Ronaldo stated after the match. “We made it to the World Cup in Qatar. We’re the place we need to be.”
Will probably be the sixth straight World Cup look for Portugal, whose finest marketing campaign was a third-place end in 1966 and a fourth-place run in 2006 in Ronaldo’s first try. Portugal was eradicated within the spherical of 16 in 2010 and 2018, and did not make it previous the group stage in 2014.
Ronaldo’s Instagram put up on Tuesday got here with a photograph of himself and his long-time good friend Pepe, the 39-year-old veteran defender who may even probably be enjoying in his closing World Cup.
Ronaldo could be 41 by the point the 2026 World Cup comes round, and he had stated earlier than Tuesday’s match he was starting to be bothered by the repeated questions on how lengthy he deliberate to maintain enjoying.
These questions will probably be gone for now, as a result of everybody is aware of there will likely be a minimum of yet another World Cup for Ronaldo.
