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Saturday, May 31, 2025

Euro 2024 qualifiers: Cristiano Ronaldo won’t stop scoring; Kazakhstan bag huge upset

Euro 2024 qualifiers: Cristiano Ronaldo won’t stop scoring; Kazakhstan bag huge upset

Round-up: Portugal secure another big win and Denmark suffer shock defeat
Cristiano Ronaldo extended his goals and appearances records as Portugal enjoyed a 6-0 win over Luxembourg in Euro 2024 qualifying.

Ronaldo made a world-record 197th appearance - overhauling the previous record set by Kuwait striker Bader Al-Mutawa - in Thursday's win over Liechtenstein, scoring twice in the 4-0 success.

And the former Manchester United forward found the net twice more against Luxembourg on Sunday, taking his record international tally to 122.

Ronaldo opened the scoring after nine minutes and grabbed his second just after the half hour, with Chelsea's Joao Felix and Manchester City's Bernardo Silva having made it 3-0 to the visitors inside 18 minutes.

Second-half substitute Otavio made it 5-0 just two minutes after coming on and Rafael Leao completed the scoring in the 88th minute, having missed a penalty shortly beforehand.

Group J rivals Iceland enjoyed an even more comprehensive win in Liechtenstein, with Aron Gunnarsson scoring a hat-trick in a 7-0 thrashing, while Slovakia beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 in Bratislava.

Kazakhstan pulled off a shock victory over Denmark in Group H, with the home side scoring three times in the last 17 minutes in Astana.

Rasmus Hojland’s first-half brace had given the visitors a seemingly commanding lead, but Baktiyor Zaynutdinov converted a 73rd-minute penalty after Jonas Wind was penalised for handball and Askhat Tagybergen lashed in the equaliser from 25 yards.

Abat Aimbetov then headed home the winner three minutes later but was booked for taking off his shirt in celebration and then sent off in the sixth minute of added time for a second bookable offence.

Also in Group H, Slovenia beat San Marino 2-0 and Finland won 1-0 against Northern Ireland in Belfast.

Harry Kane extended his goalscoring record as England continued their winning start to qualifying with a 2-0 victory over Ukraine.

Gareth Southgate's side followed up their impressive win over Italy with a solid performance at Wembley, with Kane netting his 55th goal for his country eight minutes before half-time from Bukayo Saka's cross. Saka doubled the home side's lead just three minutes later, curling in a superb 20-yard effort for his eighth international goal.

Italy bounced back from their loss to England with a 2-0 win in Malta courtesy of first-half goals from Mateo Retegui and Matteo Pessina.
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