Cristiano Ronaldo nets 128 International goals to maintain 100% Euro 2024 Qualifying record.
It’s now nine wins from nine for Portugal in their qualifying campaign for UEFA Euro 2024 following a 2-0 win over Liechtenstein. The home side kept their illustrious opponents at bay for the entire first half, but eventually saw their defense breached by Cristiano Ronaldo and Joao Cancelo after the break. Ronaldo now has 128 international goals and 10 in eight during this campaign.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 128th international goal as Portugal stayed perfect in UEFA Euro 2024 qualification with a 2-0 victory in Liechtenstein. Portugal were frustrated in the first half and struggled to find the back of the net, with Liechtenstein goalkeeper Benjamin Buchel kept busy.
Ronaldo struck the post within seconds of the restart before finally getting the better of Buchel a minute later, stroking the ball home with his left foot. Joao Cancelo added a second with a brilliantly curled strike 10 minutes later.
Portugal, who had already booked their place for next year’s European Championships in Germany, have won all nine qualification games.
Roberto Martinez’s side took a controlled approach to the match and had plenty of chances to go ahead in the opening 45 minutes, but weren’t clinical enough.
Ronaldo had a few chances but neither troubled Buchel, with Goncalo Ramos’ close-range header their biggest chance to take the lead. Portugal were a different animal straight from the off in the second half, with Ronaldo leading the attack.
After he struck the woodwork within 16 seconds of the restart, it only took him another minute to find the opener.
He ran onto Diogo Jota’s perfectly weighted pass through the line of defense and shifted the ball from his right to his left boot before striking into the roof of the net.
Cancelo quickly added a second when he received the ball out wide, and for some wild reason Buchel came off his line to try to win it first. But Cancelo took a superb touch to take it away from the goalkeeper before curling it into an empty net.
Ramos thought he was finally on the scoresheet after a frustrating performance, but his poked effort from close range was ruled out for offside after a VAR check. Portugal will wrap up their blistering qualification campaign with a home match against Iceland on Sunday.
Portugal have the best record of anyone in qualifying having won all nine of their matches, with only France still with a perfect record intact but only after six games. Roberto Martinez’s side were drawn a favorable group, granted, but have faced a couple of tricky ties and have beaten everyone in front of them, which is all you can ask.
They’ve been prolific in front of goal having now scored 34 goals, conceding only twice, with main man Cristiano Ronaldo still as potent as ever. He’s now scored 10 goals in eight qualifying games.