Cristiano eyeing two goalscoring records in Portugal's Euro 2020 opener vs Hungary

June 15, 2021 By Ali M.

Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal, Hungary, UEFA Euro 2020

Portugal kick start their title defense against Hungary, with their 36-year-old iconic forward looking to waste no time in getting his name on the scoresheet.

Footballing icon Cristiano Ronaldo is gearing up to make his Euro 2020 entrance, with his Portugal side set to kick off their title defense at 12 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Hungary will be their first opponents, with fellow continental giants Germany and France awaiting them in Group F.

The race for the Golden Boot will be a heated one, with Belgium forward Romelu Lukaku and Czech Republic attacker Patrik Schick marching to a lead with two goals each. Ronaldo will be looking to join that battle as soon as possible, having capped off an impressive individual season in Serie A despite Juventus' shortcomings in 2020/21.

Will the 36-year-old get things started with a few goals against Hungary? When these two nations met in the 2016 group stage, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner scored twice and set up the other goal en route to an unforgettable 3-3 draw, a performance which can act as a gauge for what is to come this time around.

Furthermore, the former Real Madrid ace is chasing two amazing goalscoring records and will thus be further motivated to find the back of the net. The first milestone is within his fingertips as he is only one goal short of becoming the all-time leading scorer in European Championship history.

Currently, Cristiano is tied with France icon Michel Platini with nine goals each. Given Ronaldo's track record with the national team, the attacker could easily score one or two against the Hungarians and write his name in history yet again.

Most goals scored in the history of the European Championships:

Cristiano Ronaldo
Michel Platini
Alan Shearer @Cristiano needs 1 more to set the new record.

| #Euro2020 | #POR | #FRA | pic.twitter.com/GpbPrUNpO9
— EPL Statman (@EPLStatman) June 9, 2021

The other goalscoring record is a bit out of reach. With 104 strikes under his belt with Portugal, the 36-year-old is only five goals short of moving level with Iranian icon Ali Daei (109) as the leading international goalscorer. The odds of CR7 netting five times in his opening 90 minutes in Euro 2020 are slim, but since we are talking about none other than the Cristiano Ronaldo, it's not entirely beyond the realms of possibility.