Cristiano Ronaldo added to his list of personal records on Saturday when he started Portugal’s FIFA World Cup round of 16 game against Uruguay.
That was Ronaldo’s 38th appearance in UEFA EURO and World Cup final tournaments combined, equalling Bastian Schweinsteiger’s mark. The Portugal forward has now played in 17 World Cup matches in addition to his EURO record tally of 21; Schweinsteiger’s respective numbers are 18 and 20.
Ronaldo’s 17 World Cup matches means he is still eight adrift of Lothar Matthäus’s record of 25 and while he cannot break that record in Russia, another goalscoring mark is in his sights.
With 16 goals across all final tournament (including a joint-record nine in EUROs), he is only three adrift of Miroslav Klose’s record of 19, all but three of which were in World Cups. Ronaldo is already the leading European goalscorer in all competition matches including qualifiers with 66, seven behind Ali Daei’s world record of 73 for Iran.
Final tournament appearance records
Most appearances in EURO & World Cup final tournaments combined
38: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)*, Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
37: Miroslav Klose (Germany)
36: Paolo Maldini (Italy), Lothar Matthäus (West Germany/Germany)
34: Philipp Lahm (Germany)
32: Lilian Thuram (France)
31: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Iker Casillas (Spain), Sergio Ramos (Spain)*
30: Jürgen Klinsmann (West Germany/Germany)
29: Andrés Iniesta (Spain)*
Most appearances in EURO final tournaments
21: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
18: Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
17: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)
16: Cesc Fàbregas (Spain), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Lilian Thuram (France), Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands)
15: Nani (Portugal), Pepe (Portugal), João Moutinho (Portugal), Sergio Ramos (Spain), David Silva (Spain)
Most appearances in World Cup final tournaments
25: Lothar Matthäus (West Germany/Germany)
24: Miroslav Klose (Germany)
23: Paolo Maldini (Italy)
21: Diego Maradona (Argentina), Uwe Seeler (West Germany), Władysław Żmuda (Poland)
20: Cafu (Brazil), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Grzegroz Lato (Poland), Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
Final tournament goalscoring records
Most goals in EURO & World Cup final tournaments combined
19: Miroslav Klose (Germany)
18: Gerd Müller (West Germany)
16: Jürgen Klinsmann (West Germany/Germany), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)*
13: David Villa (Spain)
Most goals in EURO final tournaments
9: Michel Platini (France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
7: Alan Shearer (England)
6: Antoine Griezmann (France), Nuno Gomes (Portugal), Thierry Henry (France), Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden), Patrick Kluivert (Netherlands), Wayne Rooney (England), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands)
Most goals in World Cup final tournaments
16: Miroslav Klose (Germany)
15: Ronaldo (Brazil)
14: Gerd Müller (West Germany)
13: Just Fontaine (France)
12: Pelé (Brazil)
*still involved in 2018 finals
figures after games on 30 June
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