(Lisbon) – Cristiano Ronaldo improves his record of selections for the men's national team and reaches the symbolic mark of 200 caps when he starts for Portugal against Iceland, Tuesday in Reykjavik, in the Euro 2024 qualifiers.
The 38-year-old striker, who joined the Saudi club Al-Nassr last January, started this fourth match in the qualifiers for the European Championship, which will be held in Germany next year.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner achieved this record last March, playing 197 goalsH The Seleção match against Liechtenstein to oust Kuwaiti Badr Al-Mutawa.
After confirming that he would continue in his position and appearing in a press conference on Monday, “CR7” announced that he did not intend to retire internationally of his own free will.
“I will never give up coming here (for Portugal, editor's note), because it is always a dream. Reaching 200 caps is not only something that anyone can do, but it shows the love I have for my country and our national team.
“It would be amazing to win the 200mH The Portuguese, who holds the world record for selection goals, with a total of 122 goals so far, added: “The selection match with a goal.”
Since the arrival of his new coach, the Spanish Roberto Martinez, at the beginning of the year, Ronaldo has played the first three matches in the 2024 European Championship qualifiers and scored two goals in Portugal's wins over Liechtenstein (4-0) and Luxembourg (6-0).
The former Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus Torino player also played the entire match last Saturday against Bosnia and Herzegovina, but did not score any of the three goals in Portugal's 3-0 win.
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his international debut on 20 August 2003, when he was 18 years, 6 months and 15 days old, when he came on as a substitute in a friendly match against Kazakhstan when Portugal was coached by Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari.
During his nearly 20-year international career, the winger-turned-centre-forward has faced around 70 different countries and has featured in every major international competition since Euro 2004 – five European Championships and five World Cups.
As Portugal's captain and attacking leader, he won the first two major titles in his country's history: the 2016 European Championship and the 2019 Nations League.
