Ronaldo scored Portugal’s 50th World Cup goal
The National Team was not in the first seven editions of the World Cup
Cristiano Ronaldo scored Portugal’s 50th goal in the final stages of the World Cup, when he scored against Ghana, in the first matchday of Group H of Mundial’2022, at Estádio 974, in Doha.
In the Portuguese debut in the competition taking place in Qatar, the player who recently ended his contract with Manchester United scored in the 65th minute, transforming a large debt.
The last goal of the National Team had been scored by central Pepe, who, on June 30, 2018, scored in Portugal’s 2-1 defeat against Uruguay, which said goodbye to the formation of the corners to Russia, in the round of 16 .
The National Team was not in the first seven editions of the World Cup (1930, 1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1958 and 1962), for, in the debut, in 1966, it did not need even a minute to score a goal.
On July 13, 1966, at Old Trafford Stadium, in Manchester, José Augusto scored the first goal against Hungary, which Portugal won 3-1.
In that first appearance, Eusébio, who just didn’t win on his debut, scored nine goals, which earned him the title of top scorer in the competition and makes him still, 56 years later, the best Portuguese scorer in World Cups.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who is starting his fifth World Cup and playing his 18th game, is the second best scorer, now with eight goals (one in 2006, one in 2010, one in 2014, four in 2018 and, for now, one in 2022).
Portugal, which plays its 31st game, is the 17th team to reach 50 goals in World Cups, in a list led by the omnipresent Brazil, with 229 (109 matches), followed by Germany, with 227 (110), and Argentina, with 138 (82).