Cristiano Ronaldo breaks European record as he scores Portugal’s opener

Cristiano Ronaldo continued to take the World Cup by storm by scoring Portugal’s opening goal in their Group B clash with Morocco.

The Real Madrid superstar produced arguably the moment of the tournament so far as he found a magnificent equaliser at the death in Portugal’s 3-3 draw with Spain.

And Ronaldo picked up where he left off on Wednesday afternoon as he broke the deadlock with his head against Morocco in only the 4th minute.

Ronaldo is now ahead of Russia’s Denis Cheryshev at the top of the World Cup scoring chart with four goals and will undoubtedly have his sights set on the Golden Boot.

His opener at the Luzhniki Stadium meant he overtook Hungary legend Ferenc Puskas as the top scoring European in the history of international football.

Ali Daei remains, by some distance, the top scoring international player of all-time. The iconic striker racked up 109 goals for Iran before his retirement in 2006.

Ronaldo’s effort against Morocco also means that he has scored more goals at this World Cup than in his previous three tournaments combined.

Speaking after his heroics against Spain, Ronaldo told RTP: ‘I always believed in myself, I work for this. ‘I want to highlight the team’s response, we played until the end, we did not shy away from the fight. The draw was fair.

‘I’m very happy [with the hat-trick]. It’s a personal best. ‘It’s a great moment. One more in my career.’

Top scorers in international football

Ali Daei – 109 goals for Iran

Cristiano Ronaldo – 85 for Portugal

Ferenc Puskas – 84 for Hungary

Kunishige Kamamoto – 80 for Japan

Godfrey Chitalu – 79 for Zambia