Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 929th career goal when he helped Portugal qualify for the UEFA Nations League semifinals, Sunday (3/23/2025) local time.
Portugal qualified for the semifinals after defeating Denmark 5-2 in the second leg of the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals at the Jose Alvalade Stadium, Lisbon.
Ronaldo actually started the match badly. CR7 failed to bring Portugal ahead after his penalty kick was thwarted by Kasper Schmeichel when the match had only been going on for 6 minutes.
Interestingly, Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty was considered the worst in the football superstar’s career.
Ronaldo’s penalty kick to the right side of the Danish goal was read by goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel who had no difficulty securing the ball.
Ronaldo’s failure to bring Selecao das Quinas ahead quickly invited netizen reactions. Some netizens considered the execution to be Ronaldo’s worst penalty.
Portugal’s opening goal was finally scored in the 38th minute. This was after Danish defender Joachim Andersen scored an own goal.
Denmark was able to equalize to 1-1 through Rasmus Kristensen’s goal. However, Ronaldo was finally able to bring Portugal back to a 2-1 lead thanks to a close-range tap-in using a rebound in the 72nd minute.
This was Ronaldo’s 929th goal throughout his career at club and national team level.
Denmark was then able to make the score 2-2 after Christian Eriksen scored a goal. Luckily for Portugal, Francisco Trincao was able to bring the hosts ahead 3-2 and force the match into extra time because in the first meeting Denmark won narrowly 1-0.
In extra time, Portugal was no longer unstoppable. Trincao scored his second goal and Goncalo Ramos also added to the advantage which made the final score 5-2 for Portugal’s victory. With this final result, Portugal qualified for the semifinals with a goal aggregate advantage of 5-3 over Denmark.
Image source: BBC / Getty Images
