'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
It is common knowledge that Cristiano Ronaldo has dominated club football during his career, whilst playing at Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.
Although it must be admitted, his club career has been greater than his international career, and this can be largely explained by Portugal not being a world class squad, when compared to the likes of Spain, Brazil, Argentina, France etc.
Despite this sad reality for Ronaldo, he has achieved great things with Portugal and even led them to their first ever international trophy in 2016 at the European Championships.
Cristiano Ronaldo has broken and set many records in club level football, but he also set some impressive international records as well.
Here's a look at 4 of his international football records:
#4 Most International Goals scored by a European Player
During the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Cristiano Ronaldo scored 4 goals in 4 games, before his side was ultimately defeated by Uruguay in the Round of 16.
Whilst this was a great disappointment for the Portuguese, as the World Cup is the only trophy left for him to win in football, there was at least some positives to take.
Going into the tournament, Cristiano Ronaldo's personal goal tally for Portugal was 81 goals, which was incidentally 3 behind Real Madrid legend Ferenc Puskas who held, up until that point, the record for most goals scored by a European player.
With this record in sight, Ronaldo did what he always does, and scored 4 goals in as many games to take his tally to 85.
Due to this, Ronaldo has now usurped this record from Puskas and is now the all-time European top goalscorer.
Furthermore, he has scored the most international goals by an international player, and is also second on the all time list, 24 goals behind the top spot.
#3 First player to score 50 goals in European Qualifiers
Cristiano Ronaldo is Portugal's all-time leading goalscorer. This stat alone is impressive, however his record numbers in European Qualifiers is arguably even more so.
As aforementioned, Cristiano Ronaldo has never really been blessed with a world class international side to play with like Messi, Ramos, or Kroos has for example. Nevertheless, this hasn't stopped the Portuguese marvel from scoring more goals on the international level than anyone of his contemporaries.
His weighty goal tally for Portugal has resulted in another very interesting record that the Portuguese has. His 30 goals in the World Cup qualifiers and his 20 goals in European Championships qualifiers mean that he is the only player to have scored 50 goals in the European qualifiers.
The surprising former record holder was Robbie Keane, who score an impressive 41 goals in all European Qualifiers. This total, however, pales in comparison to Ronaldo's 50 and counting.
#2 Highest Goal Contribution for a single European Championships
In 2016, Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal went into the European Championships without being considered as potential winners with many believing that Portugal were sporting one of their weakest teams in recent memory.
Nevertheless, with Cristiano Ronaldo on the pitch, victory is never impossible, as he showed when he led the Portuguese national team to their first ever international trophy, defeating France in a dramatic final, that saw Ronaldo being subbed off due to a reckless foul by Dimitri Payet.
In an impassioned post-match speech, Ronaldo was seen as saying that this was the highlight of his professional career, as it was the one thing he hadn't won.
As well as lighting up the entire Portuguese nation with their victory in France, Ronaldo set an unprecedented record in the process.
Of all of the 9 goals that Portugal scored throughout the competition, 6 of them came directly from Ronaldo, in the form of 3 goals and 3 assists.
This equates to 66.66% of Portugal's total goals, which is the highest contribution from a player in the history of the European finals, showing how important Ronaldo was during this competition.
#1 Most goals scored in the European Championships
Cristiano Ronaldo has a whole host of goal-scoring records including being Real Madrid's all-time leading scorer, Portugal's all-time leading scorer, and the all-time top scorer in the Champions League, to name a few.
Another record that the Portuguese legend has is being the all-time leading scorer for the European Championships.
Although, it must be mentioned that he shares this record for the European Championship finals with France legend Platini, with both players on 9 goals each.
When one factors in the qualifiers as well, which are technically part of the European Championships, then he is the outright record holder with 29 goals.
Furthermore, with the European Championship qualifiers underway, this tally will, no doubt, increase this year, and if Portugal qualify for the finals in 2020, then there is a great chance that Ronaldo will become the all-time leading scorer for that as well.
When one considers the fact that he has scored in every European Championship finals he has ever been in, stretching all the way back to 2004, the chances of Ronaldo becoming the sole record holder are very high.
