Euro 2024 Qualifiers: Cristiano Ronaldo creates history with double, as France, Belgium also seal qualification
Cristiano Ronaldo’s historic double on Friday, saw Portugal secure a place in the Euro 2024 tournament along with France and Belgium.
Portugal faced Slovakia in Porto and despite a two-goal lead, Slovakia managed to score twice.
Goncalo Ramos opened the scoring for Portugal, followed by Ronaldo converting a penalty, but Slovakia’s David Hancko scored a deflected strike, marking the first goal Portugal conceded in the qualifying matches.
Ronaldo soon restored the lead for his side by tapping in a cross from Bruno Fernandes, to see Portugal win 3-2, emerging among the first European teams to qualify for the 2024 competition.
After the match, Portugal’s coach Roberto Martinez praised Ronaldo’s performance. He said, “Cristiano Ronaldo is having a great time, playing a lot of minutes and scoring a lot of goals for his club.
“He has a lot of experience with the national team and he’s a reference point for young players,” Fernandes added.
Ronaldo’s two goals in the match secured him 125 international goals as the Portuguese side made it seven wins from seven matches in Group J.
The Al Nassr man has now scored 73 international goals after turning 30 years old.
“A record more than anyone has ever scored at any age for Germany, France, Italy, England, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Croatia, Denmark, Uruguay, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, USA, Egypt, Ghana and 176 more countries,” according to Fabrizio Romano.
Meanwhile, France and Belgium also earned their Euro 2024 spots with hard-fought victories.
France, led by Kylian Mbappe’s two goals, defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in Amsterdam. Mbappe’s goals took his international tally to 42, making him the fourth-highest scorer in the country’s history.
France coach Didier Deschamps commended his team’s achievements after the match, stating that his men have given their best in terms of team spirit and on the pitch.
“To qualify with two games to go, with six wins, 13 goals scored and just one conceded, I’m very proud of what the group has achieved, both in terms of spirit and on the pitch.”
On the other hand, Belgium, despite playing with 10 men and surviving an Austria fightback, won 3-2 in Vienna.
Dodi Lukebakio and Romelu Lukaku helped Belgium secure the lead, but Austria mounted a comeback, with Konrad Laimer scoring a long-range drive and Marcel Sabitzer converting a late penalty.
Belgium’s victory also ensured a third consecutive appearance in the Euros.
