TheCable

Cristiano Ronaldo scored two penalties as Portugal scrapped into the round of 16 at the ongoing Euro 2020 tournament following a 2-2 draw against France.

The Portuguese captain’s goals mean he has scored 109 times on the international scene for his country, equaling Ali Daei’s long-standing record of highest international goals.

The draw also sees Portugal finish third behind France and Germany, but the Selecao’s four points mean they grabbed one of four best loser positions to continue their defence of the European championship.

Germany ensured qualification as second in the Group of death following a 2-2 draw against Hungary in a game they went behind twice.

A VAR-dominated encounter between Portugal and France started with a penalty awarded to Portugal following a punch to Danilo’s head by Hugo Lloris, the French goalkeeper. Ronaldo stepped up and sent Lloris the wrong way.

France were next to enjoy the gift of VAR which deemed Kylian Mbappe’s routine fall as a penalty offence in first-half injury time and Karim Benzema stepped up to score his first goal in six years for Les Blues.

The Real Madrid marksman made it 2-1 at the start of the second half, latching on to Paul Pogba’s through ball before finding the far post in the 48th minute. The goal needed VAR to overturn the assistant referee’s initial offside decision.

Ronaldo responded with another penalty on 60 minutes when his shot hit Jules Kounde’s outstretched arm, leaving the referee with no choice. The Juventus striker finished with aplomb to bring his country level while also equaling a personal record.

In earlier games, Spain put five goals past Slovakia while Sweden broke Poland’s hearts to secure a round of 16 qualification.

Results

• Slovakia 0-5 Spain
• Sweden 3-2 Poland
• Germany 2-2 Hungary
• Portugal 2-2 France

Round of 16 matches

• Belgium v Portugal
• Italy v Austria
• France v Switzerland
• Croatia v Spain
• Sweden v Ukraine
• England v Germany
• Netherlands v Czech Republic
• Wales v Denmark

International too scorers

• 109 Ali Daei (Iran) – 149 appearances
  
• 109 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – 177 appearances
  
• 89 Mokhtar Dahari (Malaysia) – 142 appearances
  
• 84 Ferenc Puskás (Hungary) – 85 appearances
  
• 79 Godfrey Chitalu (Zambia) – 111 appearances
  
• 78 Hussein Saeed (Iraq) – 137 appearances
  
• 77 Pelé (Brazil) – 92 appearances
  
• 76 Ali Mabkhout (United Arab Emirates) – 92 appearances
  
• 75 Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) – 68 appearances
  
• 75 Kunishige Kamamoto (Japan) – 76 appearances
  
• 75 Bashar Abdullah (Kuwait) – 134 appearances