Cristiano Ronaldo sent a strong message after sending Portugal to qualify for the UEFA Nations League final.
Wearing a captain's band on his arm once again, the five-time Ballon d'Or award winner on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, hit a last-minute crucial goal to send the national team into the finals and beat Germany by 2-1 on the home ground.
Following the match, the Portuguese footballer took to Instagram to celebrate the hard-earned victory as he wrote, “ONWARDS PORTUGAL !!”
Cristiano Ronaldo strikes his 937th career goal
CR7’s winning goal Portugal was his 137th international goal in 220 caps and his 937th strike in all football.
According to BBC, since turning 30, Ronaldo has scored 85 goals for the national team, which means that during the second half of his international career, he has scored more than legends like Ferenc Puskas, Pele, Diego Maradona and Gerd Muller and current stars like Neymar and Harry Kane have in their entire international careers.
Portugal boss Roberto Martinez, while praising Ronaldo, said, “It's difficult to put into words. He takes each day as an opportunity to get better. As a human, when you have success, you wake up and you have less hunger. But not Cristiano."
Portugal will now play Nations League finals on the weekend final against either France or Spain in Munich.
However, Ronaldo’s future after the UEFA Nations League final is unclear, as his contract with Saudi club Al Nassr will expire at the end of June. It is speculated that he might join any club on a short-term contract to play in the FIFA Club World Cup.
