Ronaldo netted his career's 51st hat-trick on Firday in Portugal's opening game vs Spain.
Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo kicked-off FIFA World Cup 2018 with a bang against Spain on Friday. He netted a hat-trick to help Portugal hold Spain 3-3 at the Fisht Stadium, Sochi.
Portugal captain got the equalizer for Portugal with two minutes left in regulation, delivering a superb free kick that left Spain goalkeeper David De Gea with no chance.
For Spain, who came from behind twice to take a 3-2 lead into the final 30 minutes, the draw felt more like a defeat, especially given their inspired performance following a tumultuous few days marked by an abrupt change in coaches on the eve of the tournament.
Ronaldo, who already who is the only player to have scored in four consecutive World Cup finals, already has several records to his name. In Portugal’s opening night in FIFA World Cup, he added a few more to the decorated list.
► He scored the most number of World Cup goals in one night (3).
►At 33, he became the oldest player to have scored a hat-trick in World Cup.
►He became the first player to have scored in eight consecutive major tournaments – Euros 2004, World Cup 2006, Euros, 2008, World Cup 2010, Euros 2012, World Cup 2014, Euros 2016 and World Cup 2018.
►The 33-year-old joined Brazil's Pele (1958-70), West Germany's Uwe Seeler (1958-70) and Germany's Miroslav Klose (2002-14) as the only players to score in four World Cups.
►Among the active players, Ronaldo has the most number of career hat-tricks (51), most number of career goals (657) and most number of Non-Tournament (NT) goals (84).
According to FIFA statistics, only a total number of 51 hat-tricks have been scored in the World Cup so far, which is as many as Ronaldo’s career hat-tricks, a number which certainly will go up in the coming days.
On Friday night, Spain took the lead just three minutes later on a thunderous volley by Nacho and were seemingly in command of the match until the 87th minute, when an ill-advised foul on the edge of the box set up a free kick for Portugal and Ronaldo worked his magic.
The outcome left Spain and Portugal tied for second in Group B with a point apiece. Iran lead the group with three points after edging Morocco 1-0 earlier Friday.
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