With his hat-trick on Friday night in Portugal’s 3-3 draw with Spain in Sochi, Cristiano Ronaldo broke more records and reached a number of World Cup landmarks. At 33, Ronaldo became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in the World Cup, breaking the record of Dutch Rob Rensenbrink, 31 at the 1978 World Cup. Ronaldo scored his 82nd, 83rd and 84th career goals for Portugal which brought him level with Ferenc Puskas of Hungary, who played in the 1940s and 50s, for the most international goals by a European player. Ronaldo now trails only Ali Daei, who scored 109 goals for Iran from 1993 to 2006.
Ronaldo became only the fourth player to score in four different World Cups, after Pele, Uwe Seeler and Miroslav Klose, while also matching his goal tally from his previous 13 World Cup appearances combined. He is also only the fourth player in World Cup history with at least four goals in the 80th minute or later, joining Gerd Muller, Roberto Baggio (who both have five) and Gary Lineker.
He also became the first player to score in eight major tournaments in succession while, at a personal level, the hat-trick was the 51st of Ronaldo’s career for club and country.