Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has become the most-capped men’s international footballer of all time after winning his 197th cap in the opening Euro 2024 qualifier against Liechtenstein.
This achievement moves him one ahead of Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa. Ronaldo had equalled Al-Mutawa’s record when featuring for Portugal in their World Cup quarter-final defeat to Morocco in December 2022.
Malaysia’s Soh Chin Ann is in third place on the list with 195 caps, followed by Ahmed Hassan of Egypt (184) and Ahmed Mubarak of Oman (183) completing the top five.
Ronaldo earned his first cap in 2003, coming on as a substitute for Luis Figo in a friendly against Kazakhstan.
He also holds the record for most men’s international goals (118). Ronaldo has played 47 times for Portugal at major tournaments, 25 times at the European Championships, and 22 times at the World Cup. He is hopeful of featuring at Euro 2024.
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Speaking ahead of the game against Liechtenstein, Ronaldo revealed he had contemplated retiring from international football after Portugal’s World Cup quarter-final defeat to Morocco.
Ronaldo stated that he is motivated by earning records, and his biggest wish is to take Portugal as high as possible.
“My biggest wish is to be able to take Portugal as high as possible,” Ronaldo said on Wednesday.
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“I will always play my part when needed. Earning records is always a positive thing and it motivated me. I like to break records and will now break another special one. It makes me very proud.
“But beyond [Thursday] I still have plenty of games left. Let’s see if the coach still wants to count on me to be available.”
However, he was named in new head coach Roberto Martinez’s first squad and made more history when appearing against Liechtenstein in Lisbon.
Ronaldo has scored against Luxembourg the most number of times, finding the net nine times, followed by seven goals each against Lithuania and Sweden.
Luxembourg is also the nation he has played against the most, featuring in ten games, followed by Spain (nine).
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