The chronology of Cristiano Ronaldo’s career with the Portuguese football team, which ended today after 23 years, 234 games and 146 goals:
– August 20, 2003: Made his debut for the Portuguese national team at the age of 18, in a friendly game against Kazakhstan (1-0), in Chaves.
– 12 June 2004: Scored his first goal for the national team, in a 2-1 defeat against Greece, in the opening match of Euro2004, in Porto. The date also marked his first participation in the final stage of a major competition.
– 17 June 2006: Scored his first goal in the World Championships, converting a penalty in Portugal’s 2-0 victory over Iran, in Frankfurt, Germany.
– February 6, 2007: Made his debut as captain of Portugal in a friendly game against Brazil (2-0), in London.
– October 16, 2012: Reached 100 appearances for the national team in a match against Northern Ireland (1-1), in the qualifying phase for the 2014 World Cup, in Porto.
– September 6, 2013: Scored his first hat-trick for the national team in a 4-2 victory over Northern Ireland, also in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, in Belfast.
– March 5, 2014: He became the top scorer in the history of the Portuguese national team with two goals against Cameroon, in a 5-1 victory in a friendly game, in Leiria. With this mark, he reached 49 goals, two more than Pauleta at the time, to become the team’s top scorer in history.
– 18 June 2016: He became the player with the most appearances for the Portuguese national team, with his 128th appearance, in a game against Austria (0-0) at Euro2016, surpassing LuÃs Figo, in Paris.
– 10 July 2016: Won the first title with Portugal after a 1-0 victory over France, after extra time in the Euro2016 final. Ronaldo was substituted at the start of the match, after being injured, at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis.
– 15 June 2018: Scored his first hat-trick in the World Championships, in a 3-3 draw with Spain, in Portugal’s debut at the 2018 World Cup, in Sochi, Russia.
– June 9, 2019: Helped Portugal win the first edition of the Nations League with a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands in the final in Porto.
– September 8, 2020: Reached the 100 goal mark for the national team in a 2-0 victory over Sweden in the Nations League group stage, in Solna.
– 15 June 2021: Became the best single scorer at the European Championships, surpassing Michel Platini’s nine goals with two goals against Hungary, in Budapest, at Euro2020.
– September 1, 2021: Broke the record for goals in men’s international matches, surpassing Iranian Ali Daei’s 109 goals with two goals in the 2-1 victory over Ireland, in the Algarve, in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.
– 24 November 2022: Became the first player to score in five editions of the World Cup, converting a penalty against Ghana, in the 3-2 victory, in the debut at the 2022 World Cup, in Doha.
– March 23, 2023: Became the player with the most caps, with his 197th game, overtaking Bader Al-Mutawa, from Kuwait, in Portugal-Lienchestein (4-0), qualifying for Euro2024.
– 20 June 2023: Became the first player to reach 200 appearances for a national team, in the 1-0 victory over Iceland, in which he scored the only goal of the game, in qualifying for Euro2024.
– 18 June 2024: Became the first player to compete in six European Championships, starting in Portugal’s 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic, at Euro2024, in Leipzig.
– 8 June 2025: Helped Portugal win their second Nations League title, scoring in a 2-2 draw in the final against Spain. Portugal won 5-3 on penalties in Munich, Germany.
– 23 June 2026: Became the first player to score in six editions of the World Cup, with two goals against Uzbekistan (5-0), in the World Cup 2026. On the same day, he overtook Eusébio as Portugal’s top scorer at the World Cups, in Houston, in the United States.
– November 5, 2026: Announced his withdrawal from the Portuguese national team after a career that included 234 games and 146 goals, both international football records.
