10 unbelievable records Cristiano Ronaldo could break at Euro 2024
Cristiano Ronaldo has already broken the European Championship all-time record for assists at Euro 2024, as well as becoming the first player to feature in six tournaments, but there are plenty more Euros records he could break in the coming weeks in Germany.
There can be little doubt that Ronaldo ranks among the greatest players of all time and few footballers can hold a candle to his longevity in the game.
Still going strong at 39, Ronaldo is looking to win his second European Championship this summer, having previously won the tournament in 2016.
He’s in great form too, having scored 48 goals in 49 appearances for Al-Nassr across all competitions last season. While the Saudi Pro League is by no means the highest of standards, Ronaldo’s numbers are still hugely impressive.
He’s yet to score at Euro 2024 but played a major role in Portugal winning their first two matches, booking their place in the knockout stages by topping their group with a game to spare.
Portugal boss Roberto Martinez certainly still thinks that Ronaldo is capable of delivering the goods the highest level.
“As for Cristiano Ronaldo, I think it’s better to talk about statistics,” Martinez said ahead of the tournament.
“A player who scores 42 goals in 41 games for his club shows continuity, a physical ability to always be fit and quality in front of goal that we really like and need.
“We don’t make choices based on where the players play. We want to create the best team and call the 26 players who make up the best team.
“We monitor the players’ individual performance and role that they have in the locker room. There are players who have secondary roles in important locker rooms and others who have important roles in less strong locker rooms. Since March 2023 until now, we have a lot of information.”
READ NEXT: Comparing Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s goalscoring records without penalties
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every player to score 5+ European Championship goals?
We’ve taken a closer look at Ronaldo and have found 10 unbelievable records that the Portuguese star could still break at Euro 2024.
– If Ronaldo manages to find the back of the net, he’ll become the first player in Euros history to score in six separate tournaments. He already holds the record for the most tournaments scored in with five.
– Ronaldo could become the first player in history to make it into four separate Euro Team of the Tournaments. Currently, there’s Ronaldo, Pepe, Paolo Maldini and Laurent Blanc who have featured in three Team of the Tournaments.
– Luka Modric just set the record for being the oldest goalscorer at Euros, having scored at the age of 38 in Croatia’s 1-1 draw with Italy. But if Ronaldo scores, he’ll take that accolade from his old Real Madrid team-mate.
• • • •
TRY A QUIZ: The Ultimate Cristiano Ronaldo Quiz: 30 tricky questions on the Real Madrid & Man Utd icon
• • • •
– If CR7 scores in a penalty shootout, he’ll become the first player in Euros history to score in three separate penalty shootouts.
– If he manages to score more than four goals, Ronaldo will have scored more than double the amount of any other player in the history of the competition. As things stand, Ronaldo has scored 14 goals, with the second-top scorer being Michel Platini who has nine goals.
– Having already won one European Championship Golden Boot, Ronaldo could become the first player in history to win two of them, if he wins the Golden Boot this year.
– Ronaldo is currently tied with Andres Iniesta with the most Man of the Match awards in Euro history with six. He’ll become the outright number one in this category if he wins just one Man of the Match award in Germany.
– Surprisingly, Ronaldo is not the Euros’ top knockout goalscorer. That belongs to Antoine Griezmann, who scored five knockout stage goals for France in Euro 2016 and Euro 2020. 11 of Ronaldo’s 14 Euros goals came in the group stages, so he needs to score at least three in the knockouts this year to break Griezmann’s record.
– Most appearances in a final. No player in history has appeared in more than two Euros finals. Ronaldo could be the first, having previously started for Portugal in the 2004 and 2016 finals.
– We’re probably getting ahead of ourselves here and into the realm of incredibly unlikely, but Ronaldo technically could break Platini’s record for the most goals in a single Euros tournament (nine). Having not scored in Portugal’s first two matches though, he better get a move on.