Cristiano Ronaldo becomes joint all-time international top-scorer with Ali Daei

Cristiano Ronaldo equalled Ali Daei’s all-time international goal record with his 109th goal for Portugal on Wednesday’s Euro 2020 match against France.

In his 178th international appearance, the 36-year-old Ronaldo, the top scorer in European Championship history, converted his second penalty of the game in Budapest to tie the record. Ronaldo has five goals in three Group F games, making him the first player to feature in five editions of the event.

The Juventus striker now has 14 European Championship goals, five more than French great Michel Platini, who guided France to triumph in 1984 with nine goals. In the opening game of Euro 2004, Ronaldo scored his first international goal in a 2-1 loss to Greece in Portugal, where the hosts ultimately fell 1-0 to Greece in the final.

Between 1993 and 2006, Daei, known as the ‘Shariar’ (King in Persian), scored 109 goals in 149 games for Iran, a feat that many thought would never be surpassed. Daei has stated that if Ronaldo breaks his record, he would be “delighted,” as he considers the Juventus striker to be among the finest three players in history, alongside Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona.

“Records are made to be broken,” Daei said in an interview with Khabar Online in 2018. “Ronaldo really has the qualities to do it. I have a lot of respect for him. He is such a great player that it isn’t even necessary to sing his praises.”