Cristiano Ronaldo made history on Tuesday by becoming the first player to appear in six European Championships, as Portugal rallied from behind to defeat Czech Republic 2-1 in Leipzig for Euro 2024.

The 39-year-old made his tournament debut in 2004, when Greece defeated host Portugal in the final. He went on to lead his country to victory at Euro 2016, his only major international trophy, despite being substituted in the first half of the final due to an injury.

Despite currently playing outside of Europe’s top five leagues, with Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr, Ronaldo was chosen by Portugal coach Roberto Martinez, who praised the veteran striker’s goalscoring ability before the tournament began.

The forward started his country’s first Group F match against the Czech Republic, but despite some flashes of quality, he had a relatively quiet game, though he did hit the post late on with a header that Diogo Jota turned in. However, the goal was disallowed by the video assistant referee (VAR) because Ronaldo was slightly offside.

 Portugal’s substitute Francisco Conceição scored a dramatic late goal from close range in the 92nd minute, securing the victory.

Despite Portugal’s dominance, the Czech Republic scored first, thanks to Lukáš Provod’s impressive long-range effort in the 62nd minute.

Moments later, Portugal equalized thanks to a stroke of luck. Czech Republic goalkeeper Jindřich Staněk mishandled a simple cross, causing the ball to bounce off Robin Hranáč and into the goal.

 

Ronaldo has scored in all five European Championships and holds the competition’s record of 14 goals. If he scores in Germany this year, he could become the oldest Euro goal scorer.

Ronaldo was not the only Portuguese player who made history on Tuesday. At 41 and 113 days, defender Pepe became the oldest player to compete in a European Championship.

Portugal’s next match will be against Turkey on Saturday, followed by Georgia on Wednesday.