Ronaldo becomes most-capped men’s international footballer

The
Al
Nassr
forward
won
his
197th
cap
in
Thursday’s
opening
Euro
2024
qualifier
against
Liechtenstein,
moving
him
one
clear
of
Kuwait
forward
Bader
Al-Mutawa.

Malaysia’s
Soh
Chin
Ann
(195
caps)
is
third
on
the
list,
with
Ahmed
Hassan
(184)
and
Ahmed
Mubarak
(183)
of
Egypt
and
Oman
respectively
completing
the
top
five.

Ronaldo
had
equalled
Al-Mutawa’s
record
when
featuring
for
Portugal
in
their
World
Cup
quarter-final
defeat
to
Morocco
in
December.

Speaking
ahead
of
the
meeting
with
Liechtenstein
at
Estadio
Jose
Alvalade,
Ronaldo
revealed
he
contemplated
retiring
from
international
football
after
that
defeat.

But
he
was
named
in
new
head
coach
Roberto
Martinez’s
first
squad
and
made
more
history
when
appearing
against
minnows
Liechtenstein
in
Lisbon.

Ronaldo,
who
also
holds
the
record
for
most
men’s
international
goals
(118),
earned
his
first
cap
in
2003
when
replacing
Luis
Figo
in
a
friendly
against
Kazakhstan.

The
five-time
Ballon
d’Or
winner,
who
won
Euro
2016
with
Portugal,
has
played
against
Luxembourg
(10
games)
more
times
than
any
other
nation,
followed
by
Spain
(nine).

Luxembourg
are
also
the
country
Ronaldo
has
scored
against
the
most,
finding
the
net
nine
times,
while
he
has
scored
seven
times
against
Lithuania
and
Sweden.

He
has
played
47
times
for
Portugal
at
major
tournaments
–
25
times
at
the
European
Championships
and
22
at
the
World
Cup
–
and
is
hopeful
of
featuring
at
Euro
2024.

“My
biggest
wish
is
to
be
able
to
take
Portugal
as
high
as
possible,”
Ronaldo
said
on
Wednesday.
“I
will
always
play
my
part
when
needed.

“Earning
records
is
always
a
positive
thing
and
it
motivated
me.
I
like
to
break
records
and
will
now
break
another
special
one.
It
makes
me
very
proud.

“But
beyond
[Thursday]
I
still
have
plenty
of
games
left.
Let’s
see
if
the
coach
still
wants
to
count
on
me
to
be
available.”