On a historic night for the forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who became the first player to achieve 200 international appearances, Portugal defeated Iceland 1-0 on Tuesday to extend their flawless record in Euro 2024 qualification Group J. Ronaldo scored a sensational late goal as Portugal extended their unblemished record in the group.
Ronaldo already owned the record for most international appearances when he overtook Bader Al-Mutawa of Kuwait, who held the record of 196 matches, during Portugal’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Liechtenstein in March. Bader Al-Mutawa’s record had been in place for 196 matches. Ronaldo previously held the record for most international appearances.
After Iceland’s Willum Thor Willumsson was shown a second yellow card for a hard foul on Portugal’s replacement Goncalo Inacio in the 81st minute, Portugal ramped up their offensive pressure in an attempt to break the game’s deadlock. However, Portugal was unable to break the tie.
The referee first ruled down Ronaldo’s close-range drive in the 89th minute for being offside, but the goal was awarded when the VAR video indicated that he was fractionally onside. Ronaldo was forced to wait two minutes before he could celebrate scoring the game-winning goal.
It was Ronaldo’s 123rd goal for Portugal, extending his record as the player with the most goals scored for any country in the history of international competition.
Because of this win, Portugal is now in first place with 12 points, two more than Slovakia, who are in second place after claiming a 1-0 victory against Liechtenstein earlier on Tuesday.
Iceland slowly seized control of the game but had two excellent opportunities to take the lead in the first half thanks to their defender Victor Palsson and their full-back Hordur Magnusson. Portugal got out to a more aggressive start.
However, Portugal recovered after halftime and steadily climbed back into the game before Ronaldo scored the goal that ultimately secured the three points for Portugal.