Cristiano Ronaldo becomes first male player to make 200 international appearances
Portugal's all-time leading scorer reached the landmark against Iceland
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Twenty years have passed since Cristiano Ronaldo, the 38-year-old five-time Ballon d'Or recipient, made his national team debut against Kazakhstan in a warm-weather match. Now he is making his 200th appearance for Portugal.
Since then, he has established milestones for both the greatest number of goals scored and the most matches in men's international football. He has also helped his nation win the European Championship and Nations League.
And most recently, when Portugal played Iceland in a Euro 2024 qualification match, he recorded his 200th appearance for the team.
The five-time Ballon d'Or hero has also been vying for the record for most international appearances, which he just recently achieved.
Malaysian midfielder Soh Chin Ann, who retired from football in October 1984, just five months prior to Ronaldo being even born, held that particular accolade for a very long period of time.
When Ronaldo played his 197th match for Portugal at the 2022 World Cup, he broke Bader Al-Mutawa of Kuwait's previous record, which he had held for just a few months.
The Al-Nassr attacker has now made football history once again by appearing in 200 international matches for the first time.
When asked about he will make history the Euro 2016 winner commented:
“It would be amazing to score in my 200th game. It would be excellent, but the most important thing is qualifying for the European Championships and that the team is performing well.
We want to continue on the right path, we’ve played three good games so far. If I score, great, if not, the most important thing is winning. It was always a dream of mine to play for Portugal. I’m so proud to reach 200 caps, I never imagined it would happen”.