Cristiano Ronaldo has become the oldest player ever to score in the knockout rounds of the FIFA World Cup after finding the net in Portugal’s victory over Croatia at the 2026 tournament.
The Portugal captain reached the milestone at 41 years and 147 days, breaking the previous record while also ending a personal wait for his first goal in a World Cup knockout match.
The strike was historic for another reason as Ronaldo became the first men’s footballer to score 25 combined goals across the FIFA World Cup and the European Championships.
His latest goal took his tally to 14 at the European Championships and 11 at the World Cup, achieved across a remarkable 22-year span between 2004 and 2026.
The goal also ended one of the few remaining gaps in Ronaldo’s international career.
Before scoring against Croatia, he had failed to find the net in World Cup knockout matches against the Netherlands, England, France and Germany in 2006, Spain in 2010, Uruguay in 2018, and Switzerland and Morocco in 2022.
Against Croatia, however, the long-standing drought finally came to an end as the Portuguese forward wrote another chapter in his record-breaking career.
Besides becoming the oldest scorer in a World Cup knockout match, Ronaldo also became the first men’s player to reach 25 combined goals across football’s two biggest international tournaments, the FIFA World Cup and the European Championship.
His breakthrough against Croatia also erased one of the few blemishes on an extraordinary international career.
After eight previous appearances in World Cup knockout matches without a goal, Ronaldo finally broke the hoodoo, completing yet another milestone in a career that has been defined by longevity, consistency and an unmatched appetite for breaking records.
