“I’m Back!”: Cristiano Ronaldo silences doubters with historic brace in the World Cup

Last Updated on 23 June 2026

The week had been brutal for Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal. Lionel Messi had a hat-trick and a brace. Kylian Mbappe followed it up with two braces! Erling Haaland climbed to four goals in two games on his World Cup debut.

And Cristiano Ronaldo, at 41, had touched the ball 25 times against DR Congo without a single shot on target. The whispers grew loud. Georgina Rodriguez, his faithful partner, lifted the lid, too, accidentally.

Then, on Tuesday night in Houston at the World Cup, Cristiano did what he does best. He answered every single one of them directly into a camera lens.

“I’m Back!” Cristiano Ronaldo’s historic night versus Uzbekistan

Ronaldo scored twice in Portugal’s 5-0 Group K win over Uzbekistan, and at full time he looked straight down the camera and shouted: “I’m back! I’m back!” The stadium roared. Lisbon went wild. And a man who had absorbed some of the harshest criticism of his career finally exhaled.

It took all of six minutes. Deep inside Uzbekistan’s penalty area, Ronaldo struck a powerful right-footed volley into the net becoming the first player, man or woman, to score in six different World Cups.

In the 39th minute, he streaked down the field and, with a perfectly-placed pass from Bruno Fernandes, struck it by the Uzbek goalkeeper. Two goals. One historic record. One very deliberate message. Afterward, he did not hold back.

“I can say it was a very tough week, where public opinion was very harsh on us, on all the players, but especially on me and the coach,” he said. “I’ve been a professional for 23 years. When things go well, Cristiano is great; when things go badly, he’s ‘finished’ or ‘too old.'”

The last great name without a goal in the World Cup – until now

The contrast with his peers had been impossible to ignore. As Messi, Mbappe and Haaland all scored multiple times in their opening matches, Ronaldo was criticised for failing to play a team game in a match Portugal was widely expected to win.

He was, briefly, the last of the true global superstars yet to contribute. Then he not only scored but made history doing it. With his brace, Ronaldo moved to 10 World Cup goals, becoming the most prolific Portuguese player in the competition’s history, surpassing Eusebio.

Meanwhile, earlier the same day, Messi scored twice against Austria to move to 17 World Cup goals a new all-time record that Ronaldo now trails by seven. The pair are, somehow, still racing each other at the same World Cup at 41 and 38 years old respectively.