Cristiano Ronaldo is on fire for Portugal in their FIFA World Cup 2026 Group K match against Uzbekistan at NRG Stadium in Houston on Tuesday (June 23). The 41-year-old opened the scoring in the sixth minute and added his second goal of the match in the 39th minute of the first half.
Ronaldo’s first-half brace has taken his tally to 10 goals in FIFA World Cup history. With 10 goals in 23 World Cup appearances, he is now Portugal’s all-time leading goalscorer in the tournament.
He has surpassed Eusébio, who scored nine goals for Portugal during the 1966 FIFA World Cup.
In the list of Portugal’s top scorers in FIFA World Cup history, Ronaldo and Eusébio are followed by Pauleta. The former striker played nine World Cup matches for Portugal across the 2002
and 2006 editions and scored four goals. He netted three times in 2002 and added one more goal in 2006.
Most goals for Portugal in FIFA World Cup
| RANK | PLAYER | GOALS | WORLD CUP EDITIONS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Cristiano Ronaldo | 10 | 2006 (1), 2010 (1), 2014 (1), 2018 (4), 2022 (1), 2026 (2) |
| 2. | Eusébio | 9 | 1966 (9) |
| 3. | Pauleta | 4 | 2002 (3), 2006 (1) |
| 4. | José Augusto | 3 | 1966 (3) |
| José Torres | 3 | 1966 (3) | |
| Gonçalo Ramos | 3 | 2022 (3) | |
| 7. | Maniche | 2 | 2006 (2) |
| Tiago | 2 | 2010 (2) | |
| Bruno Fernandes | 2 | 2022 (2) | |
| Pepe | 2 | 2018 (1), 2022 (1) | |
| Rafael Leão | 2 | 2022 (2) |
The overall record for the most goals in FIFA World Cup history is held by Lionel Messi. The Argentine has played 28 World Cup matches across six editions and scored 18 goals. He is followed by Germany’s Miroslav Klose and France’s Kylian Mbappé, who have 16 goals each to their names.
Most goals in FIFA World Cup
| POSITION | PLAYER | COUNTRY | MATCHES | GOALS | EDITIONS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 28 | 18 | 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 |
| =2. | Miroslav Klose | Germany | 24 | 16 | 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 |
| =2. | Kylian Mbappe | France | 16 | 16 | 2018, 2022, 2026 |
| 4. | Ronaldo | Brazil | 19 | 15 | 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 |
| 5. | Gerd Müller | West Germany | 13 | 14 | 1970, 1974 |
| 6. | Just Fontaine | France | 6 | 13 | 1958 |
| 7. | Pele | Brazil | 14 | 12 | 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970 |
| =8. | Sándor Kocsis | Hungary | 5 | 11 | 1954 |
| =8. | Jürgen Klinsmann | West Germany/Germany | 17 | 11 | 1990, 1994, 1998 |
| =10. | Helmut Rahn | West Germany | 10 | 10 | 1954, 1958 |
| =10. | Gary Lineker | England | 12 | 10 | 1986, 1990 |
| =10. | Gabriel Batistuta | Argentina | 12 | 10 | 1994, 1998, 2002 |
| =10. | Harry Kane | England | 12 | 10 | 2018, 2022, 2026 |
| =10. | Teófilo Cubillas | Peru | 13 | 10 | 1970, 1978, 1982 |
| =10. | Thomas Müller | Germany | 19 | 10 | 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 |
| =10. | Grzegorz Lato | Poland | 20 | 10 | 1974, 1978, 1982 |
| =10. | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 23 | 10 | 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 |
If Ronaldo, who is the first and only player to score in six FIFA World Cup editions, manages to score one more goal in the ongoing match against Uzbekistan, he will break Lionel Messi’s record and become the oldest player to score a hat-trick in a FIFA World Cup match.
Messi, who captained Argentina to the FIFA World Cup title in 2022, was 38 years and 356 days old when he scored a hat-trick against Algeria on June 16, 2026.
