Cristiano Ronaldo is currently playing in what is likely to be a fifth and final World Cup of his spectacular career and we’re taking a look at his best moments since his debut in 2006.
Since Ronaldo’s World Cup debut in 2006, his country have failed to make it past the round of 16 after finishing in fourth place over 16 years ago.
Two round of 16 exits (2010, 2018) and a group stage exit (2014) do not reflect Portugal’s impressive squad talent over the years, and 2022 is Ronaldo’s final roll of the dice for his country with a quarter-final tie against Morocco/Spain on the horizon if they can beat Switzerland.
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Best Cristiano Ronaldo World Cup Moments
The wink to Wayne Rooney (2006)
Rooney sinks, Ronaldo winks#worldcup #bbcworldcup pic.twitter.com/WvsoKnSsmr
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) May 24, 2018
Wayne Rooney admitted that the World Cup quarter-final against Portugal in 2006 was his ‘lowest moment’ after being shown a red card for stamping on Ricardo Carvalho.
Ronaldo rushed over to the referee and demanded that Rooney was dismissed from the match, winking at his Manchester United teammate before he walked down the tunnel.
At his debut World Cup, Ronaldo converted the decisive penalty in the shootout after 120 goalless minutes to send Portugal through to the semi-finals after Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher all missed from 12 yards.
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Hat-trick vs Spain in the opening game (2018)
On this day in 2018, Cristiano Ronaldo scored an iconic hat trick vs. Spain.
His third was the definition of clutch 🎯
(via @FIFAWorldCup)pic.twitter.com/ZSQGKQtkGe
— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 15, 2022
Cristiano Ronaldo delivered a masterpiece in the opening game of the 2018 World Cup in Russia against Spain, netting a fantastic hat-trick in his side’s 3-3 draw in Sochi.
Ronaldo opened the scoring after four minutes from the spot before Diego Costa equalised 20 minutes later, but Portugal entered in the interval in front when the then-Juventus man added a second on the stroke of half-time.
Spain fired back with goals from Costa and Nacho Fernandez inside the hour to take a 3-2 lead before Ronaldo produced a stunning trademark free-kick after 88 minutes to level it up and complete his hat-trick.
First male player to score in 5 World Cups (2022)
Inevitable.
🇵🇹 Ronaldo becomes the first player to score at 5 World Cups 👏 pic.twitter.com/dDELIc6AYy
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) November 24, 2022
In Portugal’s opening game of the 2022 tournament, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first male player to score at five different World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022).
Ronaldo converted a spot-kick after 65 minutes to give Portugal a 1-0 lead against Ghana in Group H and has tallied 118 goals across 194 appearances for his national team as well as 43 assists.
At 37-years-old, Ronaldo might not be the well oiled machine he once was but the free agent is more than capable of impacting the game on a winning level on the world’s biggest stage.
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