Cristiano Ronaldo has once again improved his goal-scoring record in 2023 while playing for the Portuguese national team. He was the key player in the match between Liechtenstein and Portugal in Group J of the EURO 2024 qualifiers. In the second half, his goal helped coach Roberto Martinez’s team secure a 2-0 victory and maintain their position at the top of the group.
Ronaldo has taken the lead in the Euro 2024 qualifying top scorers list despite being almost 39 years old. His determination to score goals was evident when he attempted a spectacular “bicycle kick” shot during stoppage time in the first half, but unfortunately missed the target. Nevertheless, his opening goal helped him reach a total of 128 goals in 204 matches for Portugal. He also leads the top scorers list in the Euro 2024 qualifiers with 10 goals in 8 matches, tied with Romelu Lukaku and ahead of Harry Kane, Rasmus Hojund, and Scott McTominay who have 7 goals each.
According to statistics, Ronaldo has scored 10 goals for Portugal since the beginning of 2023, reaching his sixth time of scoring 10 or more goals in a year while playing for the national team. Since turning 30, CR7 has scored 76 goals and made 12 assists in 86 matches for the national team.
If we include both club and national team levels, Ronaldo scored 46 goals in 2023, only behind Harry Kane (47 goals) and Erling Haaland (48 goals), while continuing to heat up the race for “Top Scorer of the Year”. With his high performance from the beginning of the 2023/24 season (16 goals in 17 matches for Al Nassr), the opportunity for CR7 to surpass Haaland is still very likely.
Regarding the Portugal national team, their victory over Liechtenstein helped Roberto Martinez’s team extend their winning streak in EURO qualifiers to 9 matches, aiming for a milestone of 10 wins if they can defeat Iceland on November 20th. Besides “Brazil of Europe”, only France (6) maintains a perfect record from the beginning of the qualifiers, but the former world champions have only played 6 games.
