Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first player to make 200 appearances in men's international football, though he remains far behind Lionel Messi in terms of international records broken.
Ronaldo captained Portugal in their Euro 2024 qualifier against Iceland at Laugardalsvöllur, the Nordic country's national stadium. In doing so, he broke the 200 cap barrier for A Selecao, having made his debut back in August 2003.
The former Manchester United star had already become the world's most-capped men's international footballer, overtaking Kuwait's Bader Al-Mutawa back in March. Ronaldo has been handed a spot in the Guinness World Record Books for his latest achievement.
Al-Mutawa is four appearances away from matching Ronaldo's achievement, though last played for Kuwait last June. Ronaldo's first game came 19 years ago when he came on as a substitute against Kazakhstan in a friendly, which ended in a 1-0 win.
The veteran attacker has now assumed an elder-statesman role within Portugal's squad as they look to qualify for Euro 2024. And he has insisted he will continue to feature for the national team in the coming years.
"I feel that I continue to be a great asset, not only within field but also outside. I want to continue because I feel I have a lot to give. And it's living in the moment, it's been very positive. The future only God knows. I want to continue," he said.
"It's hard to mention just one game, I think there were so many beautiful moments I lived... I can't mention one. It's always the easiest when you win, the finals, the European Championship, the Nations League. But there are many good moments.
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"That's why I prefer to say that the most important game is the next game. But I don't leave out the beautiful moments we lived with the Selection. I will be the first in history to win 200 games, I am very proud of that, It's something I never thought about.
"Since the first day, I was international, it's always been a dream to play for the national team. I'll stay here until I feel I owe it, I, the president and coach. I'll never give up coming here, because it's always a dream. Two hundred games shows my love for the country."
The 200-cap achievement is just the latest international level record that Ronaldo has broken. He is also the leading goalscorer in men's international football history, is the first man to score in five World Cups, the first man to score 10 international hat-tricks, the top scorer and appearance maker at European Championships and the most caps as Portugal's captain.
Despite that lengthy list, he still remains far behind Messi in terms of the number of records broken at international level. The Argentine superstar is widely regarded as the greatest player of all time and has a list of records to back that claim up.
That includes being the only player to win the Golden Ball at two different World Cups, the most World Cup appearances in men's football history, the most World Cup matches scored in, the most man of the match awards at a single World Cup and becoming the first player to score in all five rounds of a FIFA World Cup.
Away from the World Cup, he has also made the most appearances at the Copa America, has the most assists in Copa America history, is the all-time appearance maker for Argentina and is the only Argentine international to score against every CONMEBOL nation.
