Cristiano Ronaldo breaks World Cup scoring records as Portugal rout Uzbekistan 5-0 in Houston

Houston: Cristiano Ronaldo’s record-breaking brace helped Portugal beat Uzbekistan 5-0 in their FIFA World Cup 2026 Group K encounter in Houston on Tuesday.

The 41-year-old eclipsed Eusebio to become his nation’s all-time leading World Cup scorer and also became the first footballer to score in six editions of the quadrennial tournament.

The star striker put the Euro 2016 champion in front as early as the sixth minute, tapping in a cutback from Joao Cancelo at the near post. Nuno Mendes then doubled the lead with a smartly taken free kick into the bottom left corner eleven minutes later.

Uzbekistan had a goal disallowed in the 29th minute when Abbosbek Fayzullayev was deemed to have fouled Cancelo on the lead up to Azizjon Ganiev’s powerful strike from just outside the box.

A Bruno Fernandes through ball brought about Ronaldo’s second and Portugal’s third six minutes before half time to all but seal the three points for the Portuguese.

The fourth goal came after some pinball in the box following a Portugal cornerkick, with goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov failing to claw away the ball after a deflection of Abdukodir Khusanov. Rafael Leao completed the win with a shot into the top left corner after a low pass from Nelson Semedo was deflected behind by the backtracking defender.

Ronaldo became the second-oldest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history after netting on Tuesday. At 41 years and 138 days, Ronaldo sits behind Cameroon legend Roger Milla who was 42 years & 39 days old when he scored in the 1994 World Cup.

Having made his World Cup debut in Germany in 2006 as a 21-year-old, he has now scored in every tournament he has featured in - 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026.

Ronaldo scored once during Portugal's run to the semi-finals in 2006 and added a goal each in the 2010 and 2014 editions. His most productive World Cup campaign came in Russia in 2018, where he netted four times, before adding another goal in Qatar four years later as Portugal reached the quarter-finals. Agencies

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