Cristiano Ronaldo and the hidden record that he reached despite the elimination of the World Cup

He did not practice with mangoes like Pelé, nor did he grow up in a villa like Maradona, nor did he inject himself with growth hormones like Messi. But Cristiano Ronaldo, that scrawny boy from Madeira, worked and worked hard and worked twice as hard to be the best of all. And to achieve this, breaking records was always a must. Like the one who just equalized in the 2022 Qatar World Cup against Morocco, although he could not prevent the fall and removal from Portugal.

At 51 minutes, Cristiano made his long-awaited entry into the game. With 37 years on top -almost 38-, the substitute bank seems to pull him more and more. But that does not mean that he is not seen as a solution, as the hero who can save a game. In fact, he entered with the score against due to the goal of in-Nesyri.

But regardless of whether he deserves to be a starter or if his performance has been diminished by the inexorable passing of the years, CR7 is the clear example of validity. Against the Africans, the Portuguese played his 196th game with the Portuguese team and equaled Bader Al-Mutawa as the footballer with the most caps in history.

From his debut in August 2003, at the age of 18, the forward -today without a team- began to accumulate games, goals and records. He established himself as the best Portuguese in history and one of the best at the time. With him as their flag, Portugal won its first international titles, Euro 2016 and the 2019 League of Nations.

The records he broke in Qatar

In his two-decade career, Cristiano has played in five World Cups (Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014, Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022). Lionel Messi, Gianluigi Buffon, Lothar Matthäus and the Mexicans Rafael Márquez and Antonio Carbajal are the only ones to date who have achieved it.

But not only that. With his goal against Ghana, CR7 became the only footballer in history to score in five different World Cups. The greatest scorer in the history of football -and national teams- always celebrated at the greatest football event.

In addition, the former Real Madrid striker ended his cycle in the World Cups without being the player with the second most matches played in World Cups, if he reached seven games, thus reaching 24 in total, just one behind Lothar Matthäus, owner of the record with 25. An impossible mark because Portugal said goodbye to the World Cup and Morocco qualified for the semifinals.

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