Cristiano Ronaldo Breaks Lionel Messi's World Cup Record With Brace vs Uzbekistan

2026 FIFA WC: Cristiano Ronaldo finally found form in the ongoing tournament as he scored a brace to power Portugal to an emphatic 5-0 win over Uzbekistan. Ronaldo was moving around well and that would be good news from a Portugal point of view as the world had written them off after their lacklustre show against DR Congo in their WC opener. The 5-0 win not only puts them on top of Group K, but also reignites their hopes of making it through to the next round. 

ALSO READ: CR7 or Messi? Portugal Coach Responds After 5-0 Win Over Uzbekistan

While Ronaldo found the back of the net during his second game, Lionel Messi, on the other hand, has been unstoppable. The Argentinian legend scored a hattrick against Algeria and then scored a brace against Austria. While the comparisons between the two is a thing that has been happening for over two decades, Ronaldo broke a Messi feat recently. 

CR7 Pips Messi

With his brace against Uzbekistan, Ronaldo is the first player to score at 6 different World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026). Messi does not hold the record despite featuring in six WC's because the Argentinian did not score a single goal in the 2010 World Cup. 

Ronaldo had admitted that the intense negativity directed toward him this week was difficult.

“But it’s always like that,” he said in Portuguese. “It doesn’t matter, because it’s been 23 years on the job and when things go well, ’Cristiano is good,’ when things go bad, ‘Cristiano is a retired player, is old.’ It will always be like that. But we responded well today, me and my teammates, which is what we wanted.”

Portugal would now take on Colombia in the next game on June 28 at the Miami stadium. After the emphatic win over Uzbekistan, Portugal would start slight favourites against Colombia.