Cristiano Ronaldo became the standalone top Portuguese goalscorer in World Cup history and climbed into the top 10 all-time scorers of the tournament today by netting a brace against Uzbekistan during his debut match in the 2026 edition.
Playing in Houston for the opening game of Group K, Ronaldo became the first-ever player to score in six different World Cup tournaments with his first goal in the sixth minute, matching the previous Portuguese record held by the legendary Eusébio at nine goals, before overtaking him with his 10th career goal in the 39th minute.
The 41-year-old Al Nassr forward had previously scored one goal in 2006, one in 2010, one in 2014, four in 2018, which included an opening-match hat-trick against Spain, and one in 2022.
Ronaldo, who during this opening match also became the second player to feature in six World Cup editions, just one day after Argentina’s Lionel Messi accomplished the feat, is playing his 24th match in the competition today, placing him third all-time alongside Germany’s Miroslav Klose while Messi leads with 28 games followed by Germany’s Lothar Matthäus with 25.
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With his first goal, Ronaldo had initially tied Eusébio alongside Brazil’s Vavá and Jairzinho, Germany’s Uwe Seeler and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Italy’s Paolo Rossi, Roberto Baggio, and Christian Vieri, and Spain’s David Villa, but his second goal pulled him into a seven-way tie for the tenth position.
The Portuguese forward now stands side by side with Germany’s Helmut Rahn and Thomas Müller, Peru’s Teófilo Cubillas, who formerly played for FC Porto, Poland’s Grzegorz Lato, England’s Gary Lineker and Harry Kane, and Argentina’s Gabriel Batistuta.
Just one goal ahead in the eighth position with 11 goals are Hungary’s Sándor Kocsis, who scored all of his during the 1954 edition, and Germany’s Jürgen Klinsmann.
Regarding the national rankings, Cristiano Ronaldo required 24 matches to surpass what Eusébio achieved in just six appearances during his single tournament participation in 1966, where he finished as the top scorer of that competition with nine goals.
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After failing to score against Hungary in a 3-1 win, Eusébio scored once against Bulgaria in a 3-0 victory and twice against Brazil in a 3-1 win during the group stage, four against North Korea in a 5-3 quarterfinal, once against England in a 1-2 semifinal, and once against the Soviet Union in a 2-1 third-place play-off.
On the other hand, Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored all of his career World Cup goals during the group stage, netted one against Iran in 2006, one against North Korea in 2010, one against Ghana in 2014, three against Spain and one against Morocco in 2018, one against Ghana in 2022, and now two against Uzbekistan.
