His 99 Goals Were The Second-most In International Football
On August 20, 2003, Portugal defeated Kazakhstan 1-0 in Cristiano Ronaldo's debut for his country. At Euro 2004, the 12th UEFA European Championship, he scored his first goal for his country. He subsequently scored the first goal in Portugal's 2–1 victory over the Netherlands, which helped Portugal advance to the final. But Greece defeated Portugal in the championship game. With two goals and two assists, Ronaldo was a member of the tournament's all-star squad. He scored his first World Cup goal against Iran in the 2006 tournament. This is one of the major accomplishments of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo only scored one goal at the 2008 Euro Cup, which led to Portugal's quarter-final elimination. In July 2008, Ronaldo was appointed the team's permanent captain. Ronaldo won the game-of-the-match award in each of the three games he played in during the group stage of the 2010 World Cup against Brazil, North Korea, and Ivory Coast. He only scored one goal, though, as Portugal was defeated by eventual champions Spain in the pre-quarterfinals. Ronaldo was named to the tournament's all-star squad and shared the scoring lead at Euro 2012 with three goals. Portugal was, however, defeated by Spain on penalties in the semifinal match. Ronaldo became Portugal's all-time leading scorer during the nation's World Cup qualifying in 2014. He now ranks second among all-time international goal scorers, after Iran's Ali Daei, who has 109 goals, with 99 as of March 2020.
