Five-time Ballon d’Or winner, Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first player in men’s international football to score 10 hat-tricks for his country.
In a recent World Cup Qualifier, the Manchester United and Portugal legend scored his 113th, 114th and 115th international goals during a 5-0 rout of Luxembourg.
Ronaldo, 36, opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the eighth minute, and then converted another spot-kick just five minutes later to double Portugal’s lead.
Bruno Fernandes and Joao Palhinha added further strikes, before Ronaldo headed home a Ruben Neves cross in the final few minutes of normal time, to complete his 58th career hat-trick.
It would be recalled that Ronaldo fired his ninth international hat-trick back in 2019, against Lithuania, which took him level with Sweden’s Sven Rydell (1923-1932) for most hat-tricks in international football.
Against Luxembourg he edged beyond Rydell and became the first player to reach double figures.
It’s important to also note that in September, Cristiano became the overall leading scorer in men’s international football, by netting his 110th and 111th strikes, during a dramatic 2-1 victory over the Republic of Ireland.
The former Real Madrid and Juventus forward has been nominated for this year’s Ballon d’Or.
