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June 12, 2024
Portugal have high hopes to reach the final stages of the EURO 2024 and if they accomplish that, Cristiano Ronaldo's chances of becoming the competition's top scorer will also be very high. The competition, however, will make evertything unpredictable until the very end...
With the EURO 2024 expected to be Cristiano Ronaldo's last European Championship, the Portuguese talisman will be keen to sign off with an impressive haul of goals. Can he finish as the tournament's top goalscorer, ahead of the other hotshots taking part? There are several other players with the same objective, like England and Bayern Munich's striker Harry Kane, to France and Real Madrid's new signing, Kylian Mbappé. Nevertheless, Ronaldo is still regarded as one of the favorites to finish the tournament on the top of goalscoring charts...
Cristiano Ronaldo - Skills and goals for Portugal:
With 14 goals in 25 games, Cristiano is the leading all-time scorer in European Championships. He's played in five of these tournaments already and is well ahead of French icon Michael Platini, who is in second place with nine goals. This is part of his record-breaking total of 130 international goals, and 2024 gives him one last chance to extend his lead.
His first international goal came at Euro 2004, which was held in Portugal, and where Cristiano was part of the home team that reached the finals, before losing to surprise winners Greece. He scored two goals in that tournament and was perhaps unlucky not to score a crucial equalizer in the final.
Of course, we remember his efforts at the Euro 2016 more clearly, as this is where Portugal claimed their first major tournament in history. With three goals, he was joint second-top scorer at the event and scored an important opener in the semi-final against Wales.
Euro 2020 saw Cristiano still going strong and he won the Golden Boot as the event's top scorer, with five goals. He scored all those goals in the group stage, as Portugal crashed out against Belgium in the round of 16 before he could score any more.
Many people had written off Cristiano's chances of playing in Euro 2024 when he moved away from Europe. But the forward has had an excellent debut season in the Saudi Pro League, where he set a new record of 35 goals with his team Al Nassr. His current statistics show a player still capable of scoring a lot of goals, but question marks may be put against his excellent record in the Saudi league.
Now aged 39, this will be his sixth European Championship, setting a new record that's going to be extremely difficult for anyone to beat in the future. He's been included in the squad for the event in Germany and is still considered an important member of the team, even if his influence has waned since previous Euros.
He was recently an unused substitute as Portugal lost 2-1 to Croatia in their penultimate warm-up match. The Portuguese players saw plenty of the ball, but it was a toothless performance by Roberto Martinez's side. Expect calls for more involvement from Cristiano if things look the same when the real action begins. The player himself will be keen to wipe out the bad memories of the 2022 World Cup, where he suffered a disastrous competition as Portugal went home early.
It's no surprise to see that Cristiano is among the leading players in the latest odds for the Euro 2024 top scorer. You can bet on the individual games on Bovada's sports gambling site or look at the futures bets for wagers like top scorers. Portugal is currently in fourth place in the odds to win the trophy, behind England, France, and Germany. Cristiano Ronaldo is third-favorite to finish as top scorer, but what are his main rivals on this odds list?
Kylian Mbappé is currently the favorite to score the most goals in Euro 2024. The French forward has recently confirmed that he's joining Real Madrid and is clearly one of the world's top players right now. However, he's recently struggled with injuries and only played 15 minutes of his country's lackluster 0-0 draw against Canada.
Firepower is one of the reasons that England is many people’s favorite to finally win a European Championship. Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham both enjoyed terrific goal-scoring seasons and are both high on the list of the players expected to win the Golden Boot.
Romelu Lukaku of Belgium already has six Euro Championship goals, making him one of the few active players who could theoretically catch Cristiano as the all-time leading scorer in these events. It looks like he is moving to a new club this summer but is still a key figure in a Belgian squad that’s going through something of a transition as they bring in new faces.
This could be his last major tournament so we can expect him to be determined to make it a memorable one - although he might not be done yet. Essam El-Hadary is currently the oldest player to take part in a World Cup, at 45 years old when he turned out for Egypt in 2018. Cristiano Ronaldo could play in the 2026 World Cup in North America without breaking this record, and the latest rumors suggest that he might be planning to play in that event before retiring.
Either way, it wouldn't be a major surprise if Cristiano Ronaldo were to finish Euro 2024 as the top scorer, extending his lead as the all-time top scorer even further.
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Portugal is on June 18, against Czech Republic for the EURO 2024. You can watch Portugal vs Czech Republic, Italy vs Albania, Spain vs Croatia, USA vs Brazil, Hungary vs Switzerland and Germany vs Scotland, all matches provided from our streaming soccer game pages.
Portugal next game:
Portugal vs Czech Republic kick-off time (18-06-2024):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 03:00
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+5.30: 00:30
Saudi Arabia (Riyadh) | UTC/GMT+3: 22:00
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+2: 21:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+1: 20:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 16:00
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-3: 16:00
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-6: 13:00
Sources: ronaldo7.net / espn.com / goal.com
