Cristiano Ronaldo breaks record as Portugal defeat resilient Hungary

Portugal scored three late goals to beat Group F outsiders Hungary 3-0 in their opening Euro 2020 match.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to become the all-time top goalscorer in Euros history with 11 goals in his career.

Hungary matched their more illustrious opponents for large parts of the match but Raphael Guerreiro made the breakthrough six minutes from time before Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot.

Ronaldo then added a third in stoppage time to complete the scoring after a superb team move.

A capacity crowd at Budapest’s Puskas Arena thought they had seen Hungary take the lead earlier in the second half through Szabolcs Schon but he was deemed to be offside after a VAR review.

The three-goal win really flattered a Portugal side that had earlier struggled to take their chances. Diogo Jota and Bernardo Silva both squandered good chances in the first half to give their side the lead.

Adam Szalai tested Rui Patricio with a header late in the first half as the teams went into half time all square.

Hungary had a number of chances to open the scoring in the second half. Szalai saw a long-range shot saved before Roland Sallai nearly got the better of Rui Patricio.

Bruno Fernandes struggled to make an impact but finally got his chance midway through the second half. His strike was well saved by Peter Gulacsi.

Schon then put the ball into the bottom right corner after cutting in from the right but his goal was disallowed.

Just as Hungary looked like they would earn a point, Guerreiro found space inside the penalty area to power the opening goal past Gulacsi.

The second followed just two minutes later when Willi Orban fouled Rafa Silva, and Ronaldo stepped up to fire the ball into the net to claim the Euros goalscoring record.

And it was Ronaldo who completed the scoring with the best move of the match in stoppage time. He combined superbly with Rafa Silva before rounding Gulacsi to add a third.

Cover Photo: “File:4-adidas-euro-2020-ball-min.jpg” by Ik ben groot is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0