Cristiano Ronaldo strengthened his case for the best player in men’s football by breaking two long-standing Euro records on Tuesday. He scored twice to lead Portugal past Hungary while France beat Germany narrowly thanks to an own goal by Mats Hummels.
2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020 – Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player in Men’s football history to play and score in five different European Championships. His late brace against Hungary helped Portugal get their title defence off to a great start. They were helped further by France late on, who beat Germany by a goal to nil in their opening match.
Backed by a huge home crowd, Hungary repelled attack after attack from the incumbent European champions before their resolve was finally broken in the 84th minute. Left-back Raphael Guerreiro’s shot deflected off a defender and crept into the corner of Peter Gulasci’s goal. The Hungarian goalkeeper, who had previously thwarted attempts from Diogo Jota and Bruno Fernandes, stood rooted to the spot as the ball nestled into the back of the net.
From then on, it was the Ronaldo show. The forward scored the first of his two goals from the penalty spot in the 87th minute after substitute Rafa Silva was brought down by Hungary captain Willi Orban. Five minutes later, Ronaldo got his second, as he ghosted in behind the defence before rounding Gulacsi and firing into an empty net. Those two goals meant that Ronaldo overtook Michel Platini’s tally of nine and is currently the all-time top scorer in the tournament’s history.
Later in the night, France took on Germany in the Allianz Arena in Munich, a match that saw the return of Karim Benzema to the starting line-up for a major tournament. Benzema partnered Kylian Mbappe up top, and the pair presented the German defence with plenty of problems throughout the night. However, France’s goal came as a result of Paul Pogba’s wonderful pass, which found left-back Lucas Hernandez in his stride. Hernandez’s cross was turned into his own net by Mats Hummels, who had Mbappe waiting to tap in behind him.
Germany take on Portugal next while France will play Hungary. As things stand, Portugal top the group thanks to goal difference.
