Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 900th goal of his remarkable career on Thursday as Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in Lisbon in their first game of the UEFA Nations League.
Ronaldo, 39, put behind him a disappointing Euro 2024 in which he failed to score as he turned in a Nuno Mendes cross in the 34th minute at the Estadio da Luz to reach the landmark.
He appeared emotional as he celebrated the goal, his 131st in a Portugal shirt. Half of his goals were scored for Real Madrid, with the remainder spread across his spells at Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United and current club Al-Nassr.
Diogo Dalot’s goal had put Portugal in front early on before Ronaldo netted, with a Dalot own-goal reducing the deficit before the break.
The teams are in Group A1 of the latest edition of the Nations League along with Poland and Scotland.
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Portugal next host Scotland, who lost 3-2 to Poland, in Lisbon on Sunday.
Poland had been 2-0 up as Sebastian Szymanski gave them an early lead and captain Robert Lewandowski added a penalty just before the break.
However, Billy Gilmour pulled one back for League A newcomers Scotland moments after the restart, and Scott McTominay equalised before Roma’s Zalewski sneaked his spot-kick under Angus Gunn deep into stoppage time.
Elsewhere, there were wins for Slovakia and Northern Ireland in League C, while Sweden — now being coached by Jon Dahl Tomasson — beat Azerbaijan 3-1 away in Baku with Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak netting twice.
History was made in League D as San Marino, the world’s worst team according to the FIFA rankings, beat Liechtenstein 1-0 to claim their first ever competitive win.
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