Ronaldo has achieved the feat in 165 games. Portugal, who are currently playing the UEFA Nations League, are the defending champions, having won the inaugural edition in 2019.
Modern-day football legend Cristiano Ronaldo has etched his name in the history books, as he scored his 100th goal while playing for Portugal. While he already is the top-most goal scorer for his country, he has now also become the only Portuguese footballer to score 100 goals for the same.
Ronaldo attained the feat during Portugal's UEFA Nations League clash against Sweden at the Friends Arena on Tuesday night. While he was in doubt to play the game, as he had suffered a toe infection, he recovered just in time to make it to the game, where he turned things around. Portugal beat Sweden 2-0, courtesy of Ronaldo's brace.
With this goal, Ronaldo is just second man in the list for scoring most goals for their country, with 101 goals, as he looks set to break the all-time record of Iran's Ali Daei, who had scored 109.
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As for the history-making goal, Ronaldo scored it in style through a sublime free-kick after Sweden's Gustav Svensson brought down João Moutinho just outside the box. With a distance of 25 yards from the goal, Ronaldo arrowed it down and curled it beautifully to put it into the top left corner of the goal, as Swedish goalkeeper Robin Olsen had no chance of stopping it.
🇵🇹 100 goals for Portugal.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the first man in history to score 100 goals for a European country in international football. pic.twitter.com/RzfQFU5RqE
Following the goal, fans were elated as applause poured in on Twitter. Here are a few of the reactions:
Eu pensava que iríamos comemorar 100 gols hoje. Mas foram 101! Parabéns , por cada passo adiante em sua jornada!
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I thought we were going to celebrate 100 goals today. But it was actually 101! Congratulations , as you reach new heights in your journey. pic.twitter.com/8XWmxDX7yE
Cristiano Ronaldo's stats for the Portuguese National team:
👤 Games: 165
⚽️ Goals: 100
🤝 Assists: 40
Simply ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/TBlcpeglZd
Cristiano Ronaldo's path is between 1 and 100 goals for Portugal pic.twitter.com/DLQC5LpVU3
— Daxa (@Daxa14757592)u can't score more than 100 goals in international games unless you are cristiano Ronaldo. Deffinately he will be in first position in few games pic.twitter.com/S6oTp4KGiJ
— shreyansh (@shreyansh__11)• 100th goal for Man Utd was a free kick.
• Last goal for Man Utd was a free kick.
• 1st UCL goal for Real Madrid was a freekick.
• 200th goal for Real Madrid was a free kick.
• 100th International goal was a free kick.
🐐 Cristiano Ronaldo.
Greatest free kick taker ever. pic.twitter.com/pQw6KR3YxT
With this win, Portugal have now won two from two in the UNL group stage campaign, having beaten Croatia 4-1 last week, as they look to successfully defend their crown.