It took Cristiano Ronaldo 20 years to score this World Cup goal

Open menu

OneFootball's home page

Settings

The Football Faithful

3 July 2026

There are not many career firsts that

Cristiano Ronaldo

has left to tick off his list, but he finally achieved a long-awaited

FIFA

World Cup

milestone this week.

Portugal overcame

Croatia

in a highly-entertaining round of 32 tie on Friday to set up a mouth-watering clash with neighbours Spain.

After dominating the opening half, the Seleção das Quinas found themselves behind in the 53rd minute when Ivan Perisic slid the ball underneath goalkeeper Diogo Costa.

Ronaldo thought he had equalised soon after when he took down Joao Cancelo’s high ball with an excellent touch before putting the ball in the net with a deft finish. But his trademark celebration was cut short as the flag had been raised after he veered offside when the pass was made.

The

Al-Nassr

forward was given the opportunity to score again, though, when

Portugal

were awarded a penalty after VAR spotted Nikola Vlasic dragging on Renato Veiga in the box.

–

Friday, 3 July 2026

It was a pretty soft decision given some of the stuff players have been allowed to get away with at this

, but the decision was final and Ronaldo duly slotted the spot kick to make it 1-1.

Super sub Gonçalo Ramos went to grab a dramatic winner deep into stoppage time, 13 minutes after Ronaldo had been replaced by Ruben Neves with a disgruntled look on his face.

Croatia still had time to put the ball in the net, but Josko Gvardiol’s finish was cancelled after Mario Pasalic was controversially ruled offside, sending

through to the round of 16.

Read –

The players to score and be red carded in a World Cup knockout match

Ronaldo’s equaliser was, remarkably, the first time he has scored a goal in the knockout phase of the

after 20 years and six tournaments of trying.

Equally extraordinary is the fact that his penalty attempt was his only touch in the opposition box in the entire game, illustrating just how ineffective he has become as a striker at this level at the age of 41.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star will have at least one more opportunity to add to his career tally of 11

goals when

face Spain in Arlington on Monday, before potentially retiring from international football.

Arsenal set new World Cup record for assist providers

See Also –

England player ratings vs DR Congo: Kane’s massive rescue act

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

YouTube

TikTok

Video: Cristiano Ronaldo reveals what he told Modric after Portugal’s win over Croatia

Football Italia

Ronaldo’s tears, Martinez’s choice and Modric’s ending: Inside Portugal v Croatia, a World Cup epic

The Independent

Ronaldo and Portugal kept in World Cup by mysterious ‘technology nobody knew about’

Football365

🎥 World Cup highlights: CR7 shines! Veteran knocks Croatia out

OneFootball

Cristiano Ronaldo breaks team-mate’s World Cup record with first-ever knockout goal

Predicting which clubs the summer's biggest free agents will sign for

There are still some massive names who are set to become free agents in the summer, with some high-profile deals due to expire at the end of next month.As speculation...

Tottenham: Why James Maddison was not awarded a penalty against Leeds as Premier League issue statement

Spurs midfielder denied a big moment on his return from injuryThe Premier League has explained why Tottenham were not awarded a penalty in their draw against Leeds.As the clock ticked...

Bento's howler delays CR7's first title in Saudi Arabia 😱

An ugly mistake by Brazilian goalkeeper Bento prevented Al-Nassr from winning the Saudi League title this Tuesday.Cristiano Ronaldo’s team was leading 1-0 until the 53rd minute of the second half,...