Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup goals timeline: How CR7 made history with latest tally 20 years apart

Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup goals timeline: How CR7 made history with latest tally 20 years apart originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The stars have been shining at the 2026 World Cup and when Portugal faced Uzbekistan, Cristiano Ronaldo belatedly came out to play.

Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are each on to four goals for the tournament after scoring twice in each of their first two games for France and Norway.

That put both men one behind Lionel Messi at the top of the Golden Boot standings after the Argentina great followed up a hat-trick against Algeria with a brace in the holders' win over Austria. With 18 overall, he is now the leading scorer in World Cup history.

Ronaldo endured a frustrating scoreless outing in Portugal's opening 1-1 draw against DR Congo, but he arrived at the party in the Selecao's Group K encounter with Uzbekistan on Tuesday.

MORE:Ronaldo's first-half brace against Uzbekistan, as it happened

The 41-year-old rifled home Joao Cancelo's cross at the near post to open the scoring and extended his country's advantage to 3-0 before halftime on the end of Bruno Fernandes' throughball.

Ronaldo's first goal gave him a slice of history as he became the first man to score at six different World Cups. Messi has also played at six but went without a goal in 2010.

Here's a rundown of Ronaldo's World Cup exploits, tournament by tournament and goal by goal.

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Cristiano Ronaldo World Cup goals timeline

Portugal 2-0 Iran (1x goal): With the Selecao already a goal to the good, Ronaldo converted a penalty to seal a group-stage win.

Portugal 7-0 North Korea (1x goal): Portugal ran riot and Ronaldo coolly added their sixth after goalkeeper Ri Myong-guk came tearing out of his area.

Portugal 2-1 Ghana (1x goal): Ronaldo's volley in this game proved to be the winner, but it could not help Portugal avoid group-stage elimination.

Portugal 3-3 Spain (3x goals): Still Ronaldo's defining World Cup as he scored a fabulous hat-trick to illuminate this instant classic of an Iberian derby. Cristiano snatched a point with a stunning 88th-minute free-kick to bring the house down in Sochi.

Portugal 1-0 Morocco (1x goal): Ronaldo's early header was enough to secure a group-stage win.

Portugal 3-2 Ghana (1x goal): Ronaldo was also the first player to score at five different World Cups when he dispatched a penalty in this group victory.

Portugal 3-0 Uzbekistan (HT, 2x goals): After plenty of discourse over whether Ronaldo should still be playing for his country as a diminished 41-year-old, the relief was palpable when he smashed home Cancelo's cross. A trademark Fernandes assist laid on his second. Now on 10 goals overall, Ronaldo has surpassed the great Eusebio as Portugal's all-time leading scorer at World Cups.