Portugal skipper and star footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has scored his 109th goal for his country in a Euro 2020 game against France to equal former Iran striker Ali Daei’s all-time international record.
Ronaldo, 36, the leading scorer in European Championship history, converted his second penalty of the game in Budapest to match the record in his 178th international appearance on Wednesday.
Significantly, the ace striker is the only player to appear at five editions of Euro Cup and has14 European Championship goals, five more than French great Michel Platini, who netted nine times when he led France to glory in 1984.
Ronaldo had scored his first international goal in a 2-1 loss to Greece in the opening game of Euro 2004 in Portugal.
Earlier, Daei, who had netted 109 goals in 149 appearances for Iran between 1993 and 2006, on several occasions had said that he would be “delighted” if Ronaldo broke his record.
“Congratulations to @cristiano who is now one goal away from breaking the men’s international goal scoring record,” Daei posted on Instagram.
“I am honoured that this remarkable achievement will belong to Ronaldo – great champion of football and caring humanist who inspires and impacts lives throughout the world,” he added.