{"id":35132,"date":"2026-06-23T20:34:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T20:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/23\/portugals-cristiano-ronaldo-ends-goal-drought-first-to-score-at-6-world-cups\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T20:34:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T20:34:49","slug":"portugals-cristiano-ronaldo-ends-goal-drought-first-to-score-at-6-world-cups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/23\/portugals-cristiano-ronaldo-ends-goal-drought-first-to-score-at-6-world-cups\/","title":{"rendered":"Portugal&#8217;s Cristiano Ronaldo ends goal drought, first to score at 6 World Cups"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>HOUSTON &#8212; <a data-player-guid=\"19e162c0-6bf5-d817-e9f9-81bf96001ee2\" href=\"http:\/\/espn.com\/soccer\/player\/_\/id\/22774\/cristiano-ronaldo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a> made history Tuesday by becoming the first player to score in six different World Cups, finding the net in <a data-clubhouse-guid=\"12433baf-649d-7f4f-7233-6db63a5f62f4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/soccer\/team?id=482\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Portugal<\/a>&#8216;s 5-0 win over <a data-clubhouse-guid=\"d0d6d2f4-fc16-6016-f018-e0ac248cd6d3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/soccer\/team?id=2570\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Uzbekistan<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Five-time Ballon d&#8217;Or winner Ronaldo, 41, had gone 10 games without a goal in major tournaments &#8212; a run stretching back to November 2022 &#8212; after drawing a blank against <a data-clubhouse-guid=\"cd8dd04b-5ed0-76ae-d6b5-70a11562557d\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/soccer\/team?id=2850\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Congo DR<\/a> last Wednesday.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline editorial float-r\" data-behavior=\"article_related\">\n<h2 class=\"editorial-title\">Editor&#8217;s Picks<\/h2>\n<p>2 Related<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>In Tuesday&#8217;s Group K game, Ronaldo opened the scoring early with a near-post finish in the sixth minute, before turning down the chance to add a second with a free kick &#8212; allowing <a data-player-guid=\"bcd38483-c60b-0252-80d5-14eb40d25155\" href=\"http:\/\/espn.com\/soccer\/player\/_\/id\/290591\/nuno-mendes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nuno Mendes<\/a> to convert &#8212; and then later racing onto a through ball to make it 3-0 before halftime.<\/p>\n<p>Ronaldo and his teammates faced heavy criticism after Portugal&#8217;s 1-1 draw with Congo DR &#8212; with coach Roberto Mart\u00ednez being questioned for continuing to pick the star at center forward &#8212; giving extra meaning to Tuesday&#8217;s win.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;God helps those who work hard. I knew my teammates would help out too,&#8221; Ronaldo said after the game. &#8220;It was a difficult week, a dark week. It felt like I&#8217;d retired from soccer. But I hung in there, as I always do, because I believe in hard work more than anything else.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was tough, I have to admit, but we&#8217;re back.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ronaldo had several chances to move onto a hat trick in the second half Tuesday, but was unable to find a third goal as Portugal moved to four points in the group ahead of their finale against Colombia in Miami on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>The goals mean the Portugal captain, who was named man of the match, is the first player to score in six different World Cups: 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026.<\/p>\n<p>He is also now the second-oldest scorer in World Cup history (41 years, 138 days), behind Roger Milla in 1994 for <a data-clubhouse-guid=\"b16f2c41-498c-75a3-8fb7-a95d418f4e08\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/soccer\/team?id=656\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cameroon<\/a> against Russia (42 years, 39 days).<\/p>\n<p>Portugal&#8217;s fourth goal came on the hour when a low ball into the box took a series of deflections and ended up in the net after ricocheting off <a data-player-guid=\"8a34b0e1-7b7c-38a9-bcf7-ab2cb7004423\" href=\"http:\/\/espn.com\/soccer\/player\/_\/id\/362211\/abdukodir-khusanov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Abdukodir Khusanov<\/a> and <a data-player-guid=\"c06aa9ce-f007-315f-9e5a-59c67ce0d14a\" href=\"http:\/\/espn.com\/soccer\/player\/_\/id\/308612\/abduvohid-nematov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Abduvohid Nematov<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Al Nassr star then forced a fine save from Nematov as he continued to chase a hat trick and <a data-player-guid=\"e5847128-4b2e-c0cc-18a0-f892204e7221\" href=\"http:\/\/espn.com\/soccer\/player\/_\/id\/258917\/rafael-leao\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rafael Le\u00e3o<\/a> completed the rout when he lashed into the roof of the net when a clearance rolled into his path.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline inline-photo full\">\n<figure><picture><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/a4.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2026%2F0623%2Fr1678268_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=570&amp;format=jpg, https:\/\/a4.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2026%2F0623%2Fr1678268_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=1140&amp;cquality=40&amp;format=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 376px)\"><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/a4.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2026%2F0623%2Fr1678268_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=375, https:\/\/a4.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2026%2F0623%2Fr1678268_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=750&amp;cquality=40&amp;format=jpg 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 375px)\"><img class=\" lazyload lazyload\" data-image-container=\".inline-photo\" height=\"320\" width=\"570\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"photoCaption\">Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after opening the scoring against Uzbekistan on Tuesday.\u00a0<cite>RONALDO SCHEMIDT \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve improved; that&#8217;s just how life is. We face setbacks during games and in life, but the main goal is always to improve,&#8221; Ronaldo said. &#8220;And that&#8217;s what we did. It was a very tough and difficult week, with public opinion being very harsh on all the players, especially on me and the coach.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But I don&#8217;t mind. I&#8217;ve been in this profession for 23 years now, and whenever things go well, Cristiano is doing great, but when they go badly, Cristiano is retired, he&#8217;s too old. It will always be like that.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But we responded well today. That&#8217;s what we wanted. We played with a high line, and when we do that, it&#8217;s hard to stop Portugal.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This year, Ronaldo and <a data-clubhouse-guid=\"892f805f-fef9-c22d-8f87-ba08b1b4d256\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/soccer\/team?id=202\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Argentina<\/a> captain <a data-player-guid=\"dc5f8d51-332b-0ab2-b4b0-c97efdc624e0\" href=\"http:\/\/espn.com\/soccer\/player\/_\/id\/45843\/lionel-messi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lionel Messi<\/a> have become the only men in history to play in six World Cup tournaments.<\/p>\n<p>However, Ronaldo stands alone in scoring in each edition, after Messi failed to score a goal at the 2010 World Cup in <a data-clubhouse-guid=\"d4889543-c668-800d-56fa-542c10023978\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/soccer\/team?id=467\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">South Africa<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ronaldo now has 10 goals in World Cups, and Messi has 18, after a hat trick in Argentina&#8217;s opener against <a data-clubhouse-guid=\"5a9aa911-bb70-d5d4-2c03-166d0fe0dc3c\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/soccer\/team?id=624\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Algeria<\/a> and two more goals against <a data-clubhouse-guid=\"97f12487-4e78-aa06-a02c-7e91dbcd42b8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/soccer\/team?id=474\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Austria<\/a> made him the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I always arrive. Sooner or later, I&#8217;m there. It&#8217;s about continuing the work. I truly believe that God helps those who work hard,&#8221; Ronaldo said. &#8220;It&#8217;s always been that way in my career, nothing&#8217;s going to change. I&#8217;m very happy. The most important thing is the team, being united with them and with our families. We can&#8217;t control the rest that comes from outside.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We know that when we don&#8217;t win, we get attacked. Especially me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This is likely to be Ronaldo&#8217;s final World Cup, after a glittering career which saw him win the European Championships with Portugal in 2016 and the Champions League five times, with <a data-clubhouse-guid=\"6ebc2fd0-35d3-733b-5666-b75035a3bce9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/soccer\/team?id=360\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Manchester United<\/a> and <a data-clubhouse-guid=\"66434654-a8ba-a04c-98e5-6bbd0dbbb780\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/soccer\/team?id=86\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Real Madrid<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday&#8217;s game was the 230th of Ronaldo&#8217;s international career, the most in the history of the men&#8217;s game. He has scored 145 times for Portugal during that span.<\/p>\n<div class=\"flourish-embed flourish-bar-chart-race\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/soccer\/story\/_\/id\/49154970\/visualisation\/28241986?2490397\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/visualisation\/28241986\/thumbnail\" width=\"100%\" alt=\"bar-chart-race visualization\" title=\"\"><\/div>\n<p><em>Information from ESPN&#8217;s Global Sports Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HOUSTON &#8212; Cristiano Ronaldo made history Tuesday by becoming the first player to score in six different World Cups, finding<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_animmysite_disable_animation":false,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/a4.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2026%2F0623%2Fr1678268_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[214],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}