Hyderabad: Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo etched his name into the FIFA World Cup record books by becoming the oldest player to score in a World Cup knockout match. The 41-year-old achieved the milestone during Portugal’s 2-1 victory over Croatia in the Round of 32 of the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Ronaldo, aged 41 years and 147 days, converted a second-half penalty to level the scores at 1-1, registering his first-ever goal in a FIFA World Cup knockout fixture. He also became the first player aged over 40 to score in the knockout stages of the tournament.
The previous record was held by Ronaldo’s former Portugal teammate Pepe, who scored against Switzerland during the 2022 FIFA World Cup at the age of 39 years and 283 days.
VAR Drama Dominates Portugal-Croatia Clash
Croatia took the lead through Ivan Perisic, but Portugal equalised after being awarded a penalty when defender Renato Veiga was fouled inside the box. Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot, calmly sending the goalkeeper the wrong way to create history.
Earlier in the first half, Ronaldo thought he had opened the scoring with a superb finish after controlling a long aerial pass and beating Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livaković. However, the goal was ruled out after a VAR review determined that Ronaldo was marginally offside.
Portugal eventually took the lead through Gonçalo Ramos, who scored the winning goal to make it 2-1.
Croatia also suffered VAR heartbreak in the closing stages when a goal by Joško Gvardiol was disallowed after officials ruled that Mario Pašalić had been offside during the build-up.
Portugal Advance to Round of 16
With the hard-fought 2-1 victory, Portugal secured a place in the Round of 16, while Ronaldo’s record-breaking strike added another remarkable milestone to his illustrious career.
The veteran forward continues to rewrite football history, extending his legacy as one of the greatest players the sport has ever produced.
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