Set to break it next month? Ronaldo matches World Cup qualifying record held for nine years

Chasing new records 

On Tuesday night Portugal were forced to work hard for all three points in Budapest. Against a talented Hungary side, Roberto Martínez’s side went a goal down in the 21st minute and, despite scoring two in response, were forced to score a third four minutes from full time to cancel out Barnabás Varga’s second of the night. In the end, it was a victory to be proud of for the travelling side, but that wasn’t the only thing to celebrate from this match.

Just before the hour mark, Portugal were awarded a penalty to make it 2-1 to the visitors and to no great surprise Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up to take the spot kick. With a great strike into the bottom half of the left side of the net, Ronaldo gave the goalkeeper no chance and duly ran off in celebration of his 141st goal in 223 games for his national team. However, that goal also signified something else and once again etched the player’s name in the history books for future generations to marvel at.

Prior to Tuesday’s goal, Ronaldo was just one off the record for most goals scored in qualifying matches for World Cups. The previous record was held by none other than former Guatemala talisman Carlos Ruiz, who bagged an incredible 39 goals in 47 games for his country over the course of 16 years of service to his national team. And that record had stood for exactly nine years and two days, prior to Ronaldo matching it with 39 goals in 49 games. Should Ronaldo feature in Portugal’s next qualifying match against Ireland next month and find a way to stick the ball in the back of the net, he will break the record for the most goals scored in qualifying games in the entire history of the sport.

To no great surprise, Ronaldo is being chased by a number of the sport’s top goalscorers for their respective nations. Uruguay forward Luis Suárez sits just 10 goals behind Ronaldo, with 29 goals in 64 games for his country, while Barcelona and Poland No.9 Robert Lewandowski sits on 32 goals in 41 qualifying games for his European nation. But the most obvious contender to Ronaldo’s newly-acquired record is none other than Lionel Messi, who has 36 goals in 72 qualifying games for Argentina. However, having missed Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat to Ecuador, the 38-year-old talent will have to wait until next year to add to his tally in this particular race.