Cristiano Ronaldo Creates History, Becomes First Player In The World To..

Published 3 July 2026 · sports

Cristiano Ronaldo Creates History, Becomes First Player In The World To... Published By, Last Updated: July 03, 2026, 06:44 IST At 41 years and 147

Cristiano Ronaldo Creates History, Becomes First Player In The World To... Published By, Last Updated: July 03, 2026, 06:44 IST At 41 years and 147 days old, Ronaldo is the first player in history to score in a FIFA World Cup knockout match after turning 40. Cristiano Ronaldo becomes oldest player to score goal in a FIFA World Cup knockout match. (Picture Credit: AP) Cristiano Ronaldo entered his name in the history books on Thursday (Friday IST) by becoming the oldest player to score a goal in a FIFA World Cup knockout match. The Portugal captain scored his first-ever goal in a FIFA World Cup knockout match in the 68th minute of Portugal’s FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 clash against Croatia in Toronto. At 41 years and 147 days old, Ronaldo also became the first player in history to score in a FIFA World Cup knockout match after turning 40. The previous record of being the oldest player to score in a FIFA World Cup knockout match was held by former Portugal defender Pepe. Pepe was 39 years and 283 days old when he scored for Portugal in their FIFA World Cup 2022 Round of 16 match against Switzerland at Lusail Stadium in Lusail on December 6, 2022.

Oldest goal scorers in FIFA World Cup knockout matches PLAYER COUNTRY AGE AGAINST YEAR Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal 41 years, 147 days Croatia 2026 Pepe Portugal 39 years, 283 days Switzerland 2022 Gunnar Gren Sweden 37 years, 236 days West Germany 1958 Ivan Perisic Croatia 37 years, 150 days Portugal 2026 Obdulio Varela Uruguay 36 years, 279 days England 1954 Olivier Giroud France 36 years, 71 days England 2022 Miroslav Klose Germany 36 years, 29 days Brazil 2014 Ronaldo’s successful penalty in the 68th minute also took his FIFA World Cup tally to 11 goals, further extending his record as Portugal’s all-time leading goal-scorer in FIFA World Cup history. Most goals for Portugal in FIFA World Cup RANK PLAYER GOALS WORLD CUP EDITIONS 1. Cristiano Ronaldo 11* 2006 (1), 2010 (1), 2014 (1), 2018 (4), 2022 (1), 2026 (3) 2. Eusébio 9 1966 (9) 3. Pauleta 4 2002 (3), 2006 (1) Gonçalo Ramos 4* 2022 (3), 2026 (1) 5. José Augusto 3 1966 (3) José Torres 3 1966 (3) Rafael Leão 3 2022 (2), 2026 (1) 8. Maniche 2 2006 (2) Tiago 2 2010 (2) Bruno Fernandes 2 2022 (2) Pepe 2 2018 (1), 2022 (1) He scored one goal each for Portugal at the 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, netted four goals in the 2018 edition, and has three goals to his name in the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026.

FIFA World Cup goals by Cristiano Ronaldo GOALS AGAINST VENUE DATE 1 Iran Waldstadion, Frankfurt June 17, 2006 2 North Korea Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town June 21, 2010 3 Ghana Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha, Brasília June 26, 2014 4 Spain Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi June 15, 2018 5 Spain Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi June 15, 2018 6 Spain Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi June 15, 2018 7 Morocco Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow June 20, 2018 8 Ghana Stadium 974, Doha November 24, 2022 9 Uzbekistan NRG Stadium, Houston June 23, 2026 10 Uzbekistan NRG Stadium, Houston June 23, 2026 11 Croatia BMO Field, Toronto July 2, 2026 Prior to scoring his first-ever FIFA World Cup knockout goal on July 2 (Thursday local time), Ronaldo had scored twice for Portugal in their Group K match against Uzbekistan at NRG Stadium in Houston on June 23. Those two goals in Portugal’s second match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup helped him become the first player in history to score in six different FIFA World Cup editions. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit About the Author Harshit Bisht Senior Sub-editor Harshit Bisht is a sports journalist at CNN-News18, where he has been covering cricket, football, and major sporting events from around the world since July 1, 2024.