Fans of the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo are hopeful that the captain of the Portuguese national team will open his scoring record in Euro 2024 when he faces Slovenia today, Monday, in the tournament's round of 16. The veteran star, 39 years old, has already achieved at least two new records in the current edition of the Euro 2024 finals, and several other records await him today if he successfully scores against Slovenia.
Ronaldo has become the all-time assist leader in the history of the UEFA European Championship, tied with former Czech player Karel Poborsky. He made his eighth assist during his team's match against Turkey (3-0) on Saturday, June 22, contributing a "golden assist" to his teammate Bruno Fernandes, who wrapped up the scoring in the 56th minute of the match held at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund.
With this assist, the "Madeira Rocket" reached his eighth assist in the tournament, matching Poborsky's record. Ronaldo also matched the record of his fellow countryman Luis Figo for the most assists in the history of the Portugal national team, with 36 assists.
However, Ronaldo has yet to score in the current tournament and left his national team's previous match with a disappointing result, leading to a 0-2 defeat against Georgia in the group stage. According to talkSPORT, this marks the first time in his international career that Ronaldo did not score in the group stage of a major tournament. He had previously scored in the group stages of the ten international tournaments he has participated in, including the European Championships (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020) and the World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022).
Cristiano Ronaldo aims to shake off that defeat and lead his country to the quarter-finals of the tournament against Slovenia in today's match at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt. He is on the brink of several new records if he can find the back of the net.
The Portuguese star, who is the only player to participate in six European Championship finals, hopes to score in six consecutive Euro tournaments. He is also the only player to participate in 11 major tournaments (six Euro Championships and five World Cups) and has scored in all previous editions.
Ronaldo has scored 14 goals in the European Championship finals so far and aims to enhance his record as the top goal scorer in this prestigious tournament. He will also boost his record as the all-time top scorer in men's international football, having scored 130 goals to date in 209 international matches.
Additionally, if Ronaldo, who celebrated his 39th birthday last February, scores today, he will become the oldest player ever to score in the UEFA European Championship, breaking the record set by Austrian player Ivica Vastić, who scored at the age of 38 years and 257 days in Euro 2008.
The former player of Real Madrid, Manchester United, Juventus, and current player for Al-Nassr, is just four goals away from reaching 900 goals combined with clubs and national teams, a record yet to be achieved in football history.
