Ronaldo scores goals in five World Cups in a row

Cristiano Ronaldo (pictured) of the Portuguese national football team has become the first footballer to score goals in five consecutive World Cup tournaments.

Ronaldo scored the first goal from a penalty kick in the 20th minute of the second half in the first match against Ghana in Group H of the World Cup held at Stadium 974 in Doha, Qatar on Friday, helping his team win 3-2. Ronaldo started the hunt for a goal in 2006, scoring his World Cup debut in Germany. Since then, he has scored goals in South Africa (one goal) in 2010, Brazil (one goal) in 2014, Russia (four goals) in 2018, and in Qatar this year. And it was the 8th goal in the 18th match of his personal career World Cup. This is a record that neither "the emperor of football" Pele (Brazil) nor Ronaldo's eternal "rival" Lionel Messi (Argentina) has accomplished.

“I am very proud that I am the only player to score goals in five World Cups in a row,” said Ronaldo. Portuguese coach Fernando Santos praised Ronaldo, saying, “Ronaldo is a legend and a phenomenon,” and “even after 50 years, we will still be talking about him.”

With this goal, Ronaldo also broke his record for the most goals in an A-match (national competition). Ronaldo has scored 118 goals in 192 of his A-match games. The 109 goals of Ali Daei (53), a retired Iranian soccer star, ranked second in history. Messi is third on the all-time scoring list with 92 goals.


hun@donga.com