Portugal qualified for the World Cup only three times before Ronaldo’s time: 1966, 1986 and 2002. During his tenure, Portugal qualified each time. The same was true of the European Championship, which Portugal had played only three times before Ronaldo: 1984, 1996 and 2000. After his arrival, they participated in the tournament every time. Portugal were runners-up in Ronaldo’s Euro debut in 2004 at home. At the World Cup, Portugal reached as high as fourth place under Ronaldo, in their tournament debut in 2006. However, they were among the title contenders almost always after that, with their best result coming in the quarterfinals in 2022. “There were perfect afternoons and nights. There were victories that I will never forget. There were defeats that still hurt to remember,” Ronaldo said. “I made mistakes. I suffered. There were also times when I couldn’t give the Portuguese people what they wanted so much. But I never gave up, I never stopped feeling proud to represent Portugal.” He reached 11 all-time goals at this year’s World Cup, surpassing Portugal’s previous record of nine by Eusébio. He has scored for Portugal in 23 consecutive calendar years, from 2004 to 26. He became the first player to reach 200 men’s international appearances, and his 234 appearances remain the most all-time in men’s international football. Ronaldo also has the most Euros appearances with 30, and the most Euros goals with 14. His first international goal came at the start of Euro 2004, when hosts Portugal finished runners-up to Greece.
