Thursday 26 / December / 2024
Reykjavik: Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo scored a last-minute winner on his historic night as he became the first men's player to win 200 international caps in their Euro 2024 qualifying win over Iceland.
The 38-year-old turned home Goncalo Inacio's header from close range.
The goal was initially ruled out for an Inacio offside but was awarded by the video assistant referee.
That was Ronaldo's 123rd international goal, extending his world record.
Al-Nassr's Ronaldo broke Kuwait forward Bader Al-Mutawa's 196-cap record in March - and was given a certificate by Guinness World Records before kick-off to mark this latest landmark.
"For me it's an unbelievable achievement, it's amazing," he said after the match. "And, of course, to score the winning goal, it's even more special.
"We didn't play so well but sometimes football is like that but we scored a goal and, in my opinion, we deserved it. I'm so happy because of 200 caps, but this is even more special."
Ronaldo is in his 20th year of playing for Portugal, having made his international debut in 2003, and is still a regular in the team despite leaving Europe for Saudi Arabia after the World Cup.
The former Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus forward has won the Ballon d'Or five times.
His fifth goal of Euro 2024 qualifying helped take Portugal on to four wins from four games.
Iceland, who have only won once, had Willum Willumsson sent off for two bookings with 10 minutes to go.
Elsewhere, Moldova, ranked 171st in the world, stunned Poland 3-2 as they came from 2-0 down to win only their second qualifying game since 2013.
Poland, who are 23rd in Fifa's rankings and beat Germany in a friendly on Friday, looked in control after 34 minutes in Chisinau.
Arkadiusz Milik gave Fernando Santos' side the lead and then set up Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski for his 79th goal for his country - 67 more than Moldova's new record goalscorer has netted.
Ion Nicolaescu, who plays for Beitar Jerusalem, scored twice to get the minnows back on level terms. Those strikes took the 24-year-old, who has won 34 caps, on to a national record 12 goals.
The previous record was the 11 scored by Serghei Clescenco, who is now Moldova's manager.
It was to get even better as defender Vladyslav Baboglo headed in a late winner on only his second cap from a cross by Serafim Cojocari, who had replaced Nicolaescu just 23 seconds earlier.
Moldova - who are ranked below St Lucia and Vanuatu - had won only one of their past 43 games in European Championship or World Cup qualifiers, a 1-0 win over Andorra in 2019.
Along with draws against the Faroe Islands and the Czech Republic, Moldova moved above Poland into third place in Euro 2024 qualifying Group E.
Other results: Group A: Norway 3 Cyprus 1, Scotland 2 Georgia 0; Group J: Bosnia-Herzegovina 0 Luxembourg 2, Liechtenstein 0 Slovakia 1; Group E: Faroe Islands 1 Albania 3; Group F: Austria 2 Sweden 0, Estonia 0 Belgium 3; Group G: Bulgaria 1 Serbia 1, Hungary 2 Lithuania 0.
