Ronaldo breaks record, but celebration postponed by Liverpool star

Cristiano Ronaldo will have to wait until November to mathematically secure his place at a sixth World Cup, a record that his eternal rival Lionel Messi has already guaranteed. A late goal from Dominik Szoboszlai denied Roberto Martínez’s team an early ticket to the 2026 tournament, despite Cristiano scoring twice.

How many career goals does Ronaldo now have?

Those two goals took his career tally to 948, while also making him the all-time top scorer in World Cup qualifying with 40 goals – one more than Guatemala’s Carlos Ruiz. His ultimate goal now is clear: to become the first player ever to reach 1,000 official goals.

Portugal needed a win over Hungary and for Ireland to take points off Armenia to seal their spot at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. An early goal from Szlai complicated things for the Portuguese side, though they could rely on the most prolific scorer in football history. Cristiano leveled the match in the 22nd minute with a close-range finish from a low Semedo cross, then turned the game around just before halftime with a first-time strike from a Nuno Mendes assist.

In the group’s other match, Armenia went down to ten men after Barseghyan’s red card, making Portugal’s path even smoother. Around the hour mark, Bruno Fernandes struck the post before being subbed off amid a flurry of changes that saw João Félix, Palhinha and Conceição come on – a show of Portugal’s remarkable squad depth. Martínez’s side will arrive at the World Cup among the tournament’s five strongest squads, alongside Spain, France, England and Argentina.

A late twist leaves qualification on hold

When Evan Ferguson scored for Ireland with 20 minutes remaining, Portugal’s qualification was in their own hands. Martínez’s men just needed to hold on – but Szoboszlai’s stoppage-time equalizer forced them to wait until the November international break to officially clinch their place at the World Cup, leaving Cristiano’s record-breaking night just short of perfection.

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Portugal

• Diogo Costa
• Renato Veiga
• Nuno Mendes (78')
• Rúben Dias
• Nelson Semedo
• Ruben Neves (61')
• Bruno Fernandes (61')
• Bernardo Silva
• Pedro Neto (61')
• Vitor Ferreira
• Cristiano x2 (78')
• Substitutes
• Diogo Dalot
• Matheus
• João Félix (61')
• Pedro Goncalves
• Rui Silva
• Trincão
• Francisco Conceição (61')
• João Palhinha (61')
• 9 Goncalo Ramos (78')
• José Sá
• Nuno Tavares (78')
• Antonio Tavares Da Sila

Hungary

• Balazs Toth
• Willi Orban
• Nego
• Milos Kerkez (78')
• 4 Attila Szalai
• Dominik Szoboszlai
• 17 Callum Styles (78')
• Andras Schafer (37')
• Roland Sallai
• Bendeguz Bolla (57')
• Barnabás Varga
• Substitutes
• Márton Dárdai (78')
• Dániel Lukács (57')
• Péter Szappanos
• Patrik Demjén
• Milán Vitális (78')
• Alex Tóth (37')
• Áron Csongvai
• Attila Mocsi
• Attila Osváth
• Zsombor Gruber
• Rajmund Molnár
• Bence Ötvös

Substitutions

Alex Tóth (37', András Schäfer), Dániel Lukács (57', Bendegúz Bolla), João Félix (61', Pedro Neto), Francisco Conceição (61', Bruno Fernandes), João Palhinha (61', Rúben Neves), Márton Dárdai (78', Milos Kerkez), Milán Vitális (78', Callum Styles), Nuno Tavares (78', Nuno Mendes), Gonçalo Ramos (78', Cristiano Ronaldo)

Goals

0-1, 7': Attila Szalai, 1-1, 21': Cristiano, 2-1, 47': Cristiano, 2-2, 90': Dominik Szoboszlai

Cards

Referee: Srdjan Jovanovic
VAR Referee: Momcilo Markovic, Jelena Cvetkovic
Bruno Fernandes (33',Yellow), Callum Styles (49',Yellow), João Félix (89',Yellow), Dániel Lukács (94',Yellow)

Standings

Group F	Pts.	P	W	D	L
1 POR	10	4	3	1	0
2 HUN	5	4	1	2	1
3 IRL	4	4	1	1	2
4 ARM	3	4	1	0	3

Group F	Pts.	P	W	D	L
1 POR	10	4	3	1	0
2 HUN	5	4	1	2	1
3 IRL	4	4	1	1	2
4 ARM	3	4	1	0	3