Ronaldo scores twice to silence critics and become World Cup's second-oldest scorer

Cristiano Ronaldo silenced his critics with a brace as Portugal thrashed Uzbekistan 5-0 in Houston, the 41-year-old becoming the first player ever to score in six World Cups and the second-oldest scorer in tournament history after Roger Milla.

Ronaldo had been largely anonymous in Portugal’s opening game against DR Congo, drawing a wave of criticism that he said left him feeling as though his career was already over. After converting twice against Uzbekistan, he sprinted to the nearest TV camera and shouted “I’m back, I’m back” — a moment of raw defiance that he was happy to explain afterwards.

“It was a difficult, dark week,” Ronaldo said. “It felt like I was already retired from football, but I held on as I always do because I believe more in hard work than in football. It was difficult, I have to confess, but we’re back.”

The goals carried additional historical weight beyond the six-World-Cup milestone. Ronaldo also overtook Eusebio as Portugal’s all-time leading scorer at the finals, cementing his status as the nation’s greatest goalscorer across every competition.

Ronaldo was keen to deflect individual attention onto the collective performance, dismissing reports of a rift within the Portugal squad. “I’m very happy, but for me the most important thing is the work the team did, the confidence we had,” he said. “We took a lot of hits during the week, we knew that would happen. But the team worked very well, we improved a lot.”

With four points from two Group H games, Ronaldo believes Portugal have already done enough to advance to the knockout rounds. “Bad things can turn out good, as they say,” he added. “Speaking for myself, it’s always nice to break records, but my goal is to help the national team achieve its objectives. In this regard, it was to get through the qualifying round. With four points I think we’ve already done it.”