Published 29th Jan 2024
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest footballers of all time and has had an enormous impact on the UEFA European Championships. He led Portugal to their first-ever major international trophy in Euro 2016 and has always been an influential player in every tournament. However, this summer, he will make history as he becomes the first man in history to represent their country at the tournament on six separate occasions.
His Portugal side were without a doubt the stars of the show throughout the qualifying campaign. They were the only team on the continent to advance to the German showpiece with a perfect record, winning all ten of their fixtures and netting an eye-watering 36 goals in the process, averaging almost four per game. Their captain and talisman netted ten of those goals, good enough for second most behind Romelu Lukaku. But despite them qualifying at a canter, the latest soccer lines still don't fancy their chances, listing the Navegadores as +700 fourth favorites behind France, England, and hosts Germany.
But in honour of CR7 and his upcoming history-making exploits, we decided to take a look back through the history books. Here is how the former Real Madrid star has fared in the tournament over the last two decades.
Euro 2004 - Runners-up
20 years ago, Ronaldo made his first appearance on the continental stage, bursting onto the international scene as a tricky 18-year-old winger at Euro 2004. His beloved Portugal hosted the tournament, and their newest superstar played a crucial role in their journey to the final, scoring his first international goal in the opening game of the tournament in a shock 2-1 defeat to underdogs Greece.
But the hosts would recover to knock off both Russia and local rivals Spain to top Group A, before going on to defeat England in a pulsating quarterfinal and finally the Netherlands in the semis. That set up a place in the Lisbon showpiece against the Greeks once again. They had stunned everybody en route to the final but many expected their luck to run out as they faced the hosts for the second time.
However, Greece proved that they were no pushovers, defeating Portugal once again by a solitary Angelos Charisteas goal to nil and securing one of the greatest upsets in the history of international football.
Euro 2008 - Quarter Finals
LFour years later, Ronaldo had matured into the best player in the world and had just led Manchester United to the UEFA Champions League with a penalty shootout victory against Chelsea. However, he scored just once in the tournament as his side lost to Germany in a 3-2 thriller.
Euro 2012 - Semifinals
Ronaldo's fortunes at the European Championships changed for the better in 2012 when he led his side to the semifinals. Heading into the tournament, he was entering his peak and had just helped Real Madrid usurp Barcelona as the dominant force in Spanish football.
He scored three goals in the tournament, including two in the quarterfinals against the Czech Republic, however, the reigning champions and eventual back-to-back winners Spain managed to scrape through a heavyweight semifinal showdown with a penalty shootout victory.
Euro 2016 - Winners
Euro 2016 was the pinnacle of Ronaldo's international career thus far. He led his team to victory despite the fact that his team finished in third place in their group and didn't win a game in 90 minutes until the semifinals. They drew all three of their group games to finish behind Hungary and Iceland, before defeating Croatia in extra time and Poland on penalties. CR7 scored three goals in the tournament and played a crucial role in his side's defeat of France in the final.
Despite his team being huge underdogs against the hosts and despite the fact that he hobbled off with an injury in the first half, Ronaldo was a vital figure on the touchline, urging his teammates on to victory. Unheralded striker Eder scored the only goal of the game with a 109th-minute thunderbolt, the first goal he had ever scored for his country. And what a time to get it.
Euro 2020 - Round of 16
The most recent edition of the tournament was not as successful for Ronaldo and Portugal. Despite scoring five goals in the group stages, the Portuguese were knocked out in the round of 16 by Belgium. Ronaldo scored Portugal's only goal in the game, but it wasn't enough to keep their campaign alive.
In Euro 2020, Cristiano Ronaldo was once again the captain of Portugal and many thought that it may well have been his final tournament on the grandest stage. However, his side's defence of the crown was in jeopardy from the outset after being drawn into the group of death alongside France and Germany. the Navegadores would once again advance as one of the best-placed third-place teams after drafting Hungary and drawing with the French however, they wouldn't embark on another fairytale run.
Ronaldo and Co. were eliminated by Belgium in the Round of 16 after a Thorgen Hazard rocket and the early exit was Ronbaldo's worst-ever performance in the tournament. But despite that, the great man still managed to score five goals and become the top scorer in the history of the UEFA European Championships, surpassing Michel Platini's previous record of nine.