Ronaldo first played in the Euros in 2004, aged 19, and can stretch a record he holds simply by getting on the pitch. He is already the only male player to have represented his country at five Euros and, as long as he doesn’t get injured, will surely extend that to six this month.
He marked his debut with a goal against Greece in a 2-1 defeat on 12 June 2004 – and the goals keep on coming.
Not including penalty shootouts, he has scored 14 goals at the Euros – two in 2004, one in 2008, three in both 2012 and 2016 before his five in 2021 made him that tournament’s joint top scorer.
A double against Hungary in Portugal’s opening match three years ago took him past Michel Platini’s total of nine for the men’s record, although all of those nine came in the same competition as France won the 1984 title.
England’s Alan Shearer and France’s Antoine Griezmann have seven goals apiece, with eight players on six, including England’s Wayne Rooney, France’s Thierry Henry and the Netherlands’ Ruud van Nistelrooy, while Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku and Spain’s Alvaro Morata will be looking to move on from their half dozen totals in Germany.
Ronaldo also holds the distinction of being the only male to score three or more goals in multiple Euros.
