2026 WCQ: Ronaldo equals Carlos Ruiz’s goals record
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has equalled the 39-goal record of Guatemala’s Carlos Ruiz in the World Cup qualifiers.
The Al-Nassar forward achieved this feat after he netted a goal in his side’s World Cup qualifier 3-2 win against Hungary on Tuesday.
Recall that the hosts took the lead, fell behind and equalised late in the match.
But they were beaten following an 86th-minute Joao Cancelo goal at the Puskas Arena in Budapest.
Ronaldo’s penalty was his 39th goal in the World Cup qualifying campaign alone so far.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star now needs one more goal to hold the outright record for most goals in World Cup qualifying campaign.
Ronaldo still has four matches to play for Portugal in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Ireland (twice), Hungary again and Armenia.
2026 WCQ: Ronaldo equals Carlos Ruiz’s goals record
![2026 WCQ: Results of all matches played on Tuesday [African, European zones]](https://storage.googleapis.com/ova-news.appspot.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/world-cup-XdxBbM.webp "2026 WCQ: Results of all matches played on Tuesday [African, European zones]")
