Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty but nevertheless broke the men's international scoring record before scoring the second goal as Portugal's 2-1 World Cup qualifying win over Ireland on Wednesday.
Ronaldo scored his 110th goal in the 89th minute to move ahead of former Iran striker Ali Daei.
Six minutes into stoppage time, Ronaldo scored the 111th goal in 180 games to break the hearts of the Irish after defender John Egan gave his nation the lead in the 45th minute.
"I'm very happy, not only because I beat the record but for the special moments that we had," Ronaldo said. "Two goals at the end of the game is so tough, but I have to appreciate what the team did. We believed until the end."
But Ronaldo, who has rejoined Manchester United, is still 76 goals behind the most productive international scorer in the game. Christine Sinclair 38 years old, scored her 187th goal for Canada last month at the Tokyo Olympics. Ronaldo's night was frustrating until the late heroics.
His 15th-minute spot kick was well saved by goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, who was just two years old when Ronaldo scored his first goal for Portugal as a skinny winger at European championship in 2004. Ronaldo's only title came with Portugal at Euro 2016.
Although he was the top scorer at this year's Euro Cup with five goals in four games, his team's title defense ended in the round of 16.
On that note, here are the best Twitter reactions after Ronaldo's historic goalscoring feat.
He's done it!
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) September 1, 2021
@Cristiano (110)
Ali Daei (109)
A phenomenal run of 49 goals in his last 47 Portugal appearances makes the monster from Madeira the outright leading scorer in men's international history. Take a bow, legend pic.twitter.com/WFO7XbuKr8
BREAKING: @cristiano scores twice for Portugal and becomes the greatest goalscorer in international football history.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) September 1, 2021
He is, indisputably, the
pic.twitter.com/tLXXVHwApx
Congratulations @Cristiano https://t.co/MYMvPPJiqO
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) September 1, 2021
Man Utd's @Cristiano Ronaldo makes history!
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 1, 2021
He nets twice for Portugal to break the men's international goalscoring record pic.twitter.com/ZSqfptGXWJ
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