Cristiano Ronaldo scored a late goal to lead Portugal to a 1-0 victory against host Iceland on Tuesday, reinforcing their top position in Group 10 of the European Championship qualifiers on a historic night for the forward, who became the first player to reach 200 international matches. Ronaldo already held the record for the most international appearances when he surpassed the previous record of Kuwait's Bader Al-Mutawa, who played 196 international matches, after his appearance against Liechtenstein in the European Championship qualifiers in March.
Portugal struggled to score against the hosts but improved after Iceland's Vilhelm Thor Willemsen received a second yellow card for a strong challenge on substitute Gonçalo Inácio just nine minutes from the end, leaving Iceland with ten players. Ronaldo waited two minutes to celebrate the winning goal after the referee reviewed the 89th-minute goal for offside, before the Video Assistant Referee confirmed the goal's validity.
Ronaldo reached 123 goals with Portugal, extending his record as the highest scorer in international matches. The win increased Portugal's tally to 12 points, putting them two points ahead of Slovakia, which won 1-0 against their hosts Liechtenstein earlier in the day. "I'm so happy. For me it's an unbelievable achievement," Ronaldo said after the match.
