Portugal's record national player Cristiano Ronaldo played his 196th international match at the World Cup in Qatar, tying him with the previous world record holder Badr al-Mutawa from Kuwait.

Ronaldo came on as a 51st-minute substitute in Portugal's World Cup quarterfinals against Morocco. This brings him to the record of 196 appearances for the national team of the 2016 European champion.

Five-time world footballer Ronaldo could become the sole international world record holder with a possible 197th appearance for Portugal. However, 37-year-old al-Mutawa is still active. In Europe, Ronaldo has long been at the top in this statistic, followed by Spain's Sergio Ramos (180) and Italy's Gianluigi Buffon (176). Germany's record national player Lothar Matthäus has 150 appearances.

With a total of 118 goals, Ronaldo is also Portugal's all-time leading goalscorer and, as of that tournament, the only player to have scored in five different World Cups.