Cristiano Ronaldo's Sixth World Cup: Still Scoring, Still Setting Records
At 41, Cristiano Ronaldo is doing something no man has done before — playing a sixth World Cup — and he marked it with a brace as Portugal advanced.
Take a second with this one, because we may not see it again for a long time: Cristiano Ronaldo is playing in his sixth World Cup. Six. His first was in 2006, when a lot of today's players were in grade school. No man had ever appeared in six World Cups before him.
And he is not here as a passenger.
A brace to mark the occasion
Ronaldo opened his account with a first-half brace against Uzbekistan, the kind of sharp, two-touch finishing that made his name two decades ago. Portugal advanced from Group K behind Colombia, and their captain — 41 years old — is on the scoresheet at a World Cup yet again.
Longevity is its own kind of greatness
We talk a lot about peaks in this sport — the one magic tournament, the unforgettable summer. Ronaldo's story is the other thing: showing up, again and again, across twenty years, still good enough to matter. From 2006 to 2026 is not a career. It is most of a generation.
For the newcomers
If you are watching your first World Cup: Ronaldo and Messi have been the two defining players of this era, pushing each other to absurd heights for fifteen years. Seeing both of them in the same tournament one last time, both still scoring — Messi leading the race, Ronaldo making history just by being here — is a gift the sport doesn't hand out often.
Portugal are through. Their captain is still writing records. Settle in.
Figures as of June 24, 2026, group stage. Sources: Goal, FOX Sports.