UEFA Euro 2020: Cristiano Ronaldo becomes all-time leading scorer at Euros

Portugal's Ronaldo netted twice against Hungary to surpass France's Michel Platini as the record goalscorer at the European Championship finals.

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo (Source: Twitter)

Portugal skipper Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace against Hungary in their opening game of Euro 2020 in Budapest on Tuesday (June 15) and in the process, the star striker moved beyond France's Michel Platini as the record goalscorer at the European Championship finals, taking his tally to 11 at the Puskas Area in Budapest on Tuesday.

Ronaldo and Platini had been locked on nine goals apiece before the tournament, but the Portuguese winger's double late on against the Hungarians added to his growing tally of records.

Cristiano Ronaldo

[?] All-time EURO top scorer (11 goals)
All-time top scorer for Portugal (106 goals)
First player to appear at 5 EURO final tournaments
First player to score at 5 consecutive EURO final tournaments #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/rjJ7C5iXo1 — UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) June 15, 2021

Ronaldo had missed a superb opportunity in the first half when he fired over from close range with the goal at his mercy.

But when offered the chance from the penalty spot on 87 minutes, he made no mistake. He rifled the ball into the corner of the net and set off for one of his trademark celebrations, which drew plenty of whistles from the capacity 67,000 mostly Hungarian fans in the stadium.

There was still time to add a second in injury time at the end of the game as he took a pass near the six-yard box and danced past a couple of home defenders as well as goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi to score. The 36-year-old has now also extended his record as the only player to score in five separate Euros finals, and has also played the most games, with the match against Hungary being his 22nd since he made his debut in 2004.

With the clock ticking away, Santos brought on Rafa Silva who won the penalty that Ronaldo dispatched, while the energy of fellow substitutes Joao Moutinho, Andre Silva as well as Renato Sanches also made a difference late on.

“In the second half... we were a bit anxious as the clock was ticking and we wanted to win,” Santos told reporters after the game. “I started subbing in some players to increase the pace of the game. I moved Ronaldo to the left a bit and released Raphael because I thought he wasn’t getting close to the goal. He played a great game... so we let him move inside.

“Sometimes you get things right and sometimes you don`t get them right, but we always strive for the best. The players that came on did very well, and the ones that went off also did well.”

(with Reuters inputs)