Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Men’s World Cup History With Goal vs. Ghana

Cristiano Ronaldo made headlines once again on Thursday, but this time, it was for a record-breaking performance in the World Cup. 

The legendary soccer player scored his fifth World Cup goal in Portugal’s match against Ghana, making him the first men’s player to score in five different World Cups. While Ronaldo has not scored in the knockout stage of the competition, his eight goals on the prestigious stage date back to 2006 in Germany.

• Iran (2006; Germany hosted)
• North Korea (2010; South Africa hosted)
• Ghana (2014; Brazil hosted)
• Spain (hat trick, 2018; Russia hosted)
• Morocco (2018; Russia hosted) 
• Ghana (2022; Qatar hosted)

On the women’s side, Marta and Christine Sinclair have both scored in five World Cups. 

Ghana v. Portugal had been getting tense as the minutes ticked by, the score 0–0 heading into the second half. Ronaldo already had a goal called off after a foul, and the free agent seemed furious. Come just a tad past the 64-minute, Ronaldo had his chance again with a penalty kick. He stared down the Ghana goalkeeper with no obstacles in his path, launching the ball to the left side of the goal and just out of the keeper’s reach.

Portuguese players followed him as Ronaldo sprinted to the corner with a smile on his face, teammates crowding around him in a congratulatory hug. 

Ronaldo is part of an elite club as he plays in his fifth World Cup, joining Mexico’s Antonio Carbajal and Rafael Márquez, Germany’s Lothar Matthäus and Argentina’s Lionel Messi. The free agent has now scored eight times in a World Cup for Portugal, and he just needs two more goals to pass Eusébio, who is the country’s leading scorer in the World Cup. 

On Nov. 22, news broke that Manchester United and Ronaldo “mutually agreed” to part ways, effective immediately. The club won’t be paying out the remainder of his contract—approximately £15.5 million. Per The Times, Manchester United felt they had a strong argument that Ronaldo breached his contract because of the controversial interview with Piers Morgan, which was unauthorized.  He strongly criticized not just the club but also manager Erik ten Hag. 

Over the summer, Ronaldo tried to force a move away from Manchester United because he said he felt “betrayed “ by the club, adding that he didn’t have respect for the manager “because he doesn’t show respect for me.”