GUWAHATI: Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo created history by becoming the first player to score in six different FIFA World Cups after finding the net in Portugal's Group K match against Uzbekistan.
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The 41-year-old forward opened the scoring in the sixth minute, meeting a cross from João Cancelo at the near post to give Portugal an early lead. He later added a second goal, finishing off a counter-attack initiated by Bruno Fernandes.
The goals ended a lengthy drought for Ronaldo in major international tournaments. Before the match, he had gone 10 appearances across FIFA World Cups and European Championships without scoring, despite registering 33 shots and an expected goals (xG) tally of 4.5.
Ronaldo had already become the first player to score in five different World Cups when he netted against Ghana at the 2022 tournament in Qatar. With his latest goal, he extended the record by scoring in six consecutive World Cups- 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026.
Earlier this year, Ronaldo and Lionel Messi became the first male footballers to appear in six FIFA World Cups.
The strike against Uzbekistan was Ronaldo's ninth World Cup goal since making his tournament debut in 2006 and his 144th goal for Portugal overall.
This also marks only the second World Cup, after 2018, in which Ronaldo has scored more than one goal during the tournament.
Portugal will conclude their group-stage campaign against Colombia on Saturday. Colombia head into the match after securing a 3-1 victory over Uzbekistan.