Portugal’s Ronaldo equals world record with 196th international appearance

Caught up by Kuwait’s Al-Mutawa

Portugal’s all-time international Cristiano Ronaldo made his 196th international appearance at the World Cup in Qatar, drawing level with the previous world record holder Bader Al-Mutawa from Kuwait. Ronaldo came on as a 51st-minute substitute in Portugal’s World Cup quarter-finals against Morocco on Saturday. This brings him to the record of 196 appearances for the national team of the 2016 European champion.

Five-time world footballer Ronaldo could become the sole international world record holder with a possible 197th appearance for Portugal. However, 37-year-old Al-Mutawa is still active. In Europe, Ronaldo has long been at the top in this statistic, followed at a great distance by Spain’s Sergio Ramos (180) and Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon (176). Germany’s record national player Lothar Matthäus has 150 appearances. With a total of 118 goals, Ronaldo is also Portugal’s all-time leading goalscorer and, as of this tournament, the only player to have scored in five different World Cups.

In addition to Ronaldo: The future of Pepe and coach Santos in Portugal is also questionable

Achieving this further milestone was no consolation for Ronaldo after losing the World Cup with Portugal. The attacker quickly disappeared into the dressing room after the game, so questions about his future had to be answered by others. “Now is not the time to talk about the future of Cristiano Ronaldo or Pepe,” said the 39-year-old reserve captain Pepe, who was frustrated and depressed like the entire national team after the 1-0 draw against Morocco. “We are all very sad that we didn’t win.”

For the 37-year-old Ronaldo, it could have been a sad final farewell to the big stage after five World Cups. Most recently, the clubless offensive player was just a joker and couldn’t do anything even in this role. It is also questionable whether Pepe and national coach Fernando Santos will take on the upcoming tournaments with Portugal after the disappointing World Cup. “I’ll talk to the president calmly about the contract issue,” said Santos, whose contract runs until 2024.

It was him and Ronaldo in particular who “hit” the end. Santos rated his team’s performance as “good” despite the elimination, which Ronaldo was unable to prevent after his substitution in the 51st minute with a weak performance. It’s not fair to lose, but that’s football,” he lamented.

Ronaldo, who, like nine other team-mates, stayed in Qatar with his family, should now worry about his immediate personal future. The 37-year-old has been without a club since leaving Manchester United shortly before the World Cup. He is reportedly on the receiving end of a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia, but the aspiring five-time world footballer may prefer to continue his career at the top level in Europe.

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