Is Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Portugal against Iceland tonight?
Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to start when Portugal travel to face Iceland in the Euro 2024 Qualifiers on Tuesday (June 20). The Selecao come into the game on the back of a 3-0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday, June 17.
Ronaldo started and played the full 90 minutes against Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Al-Nassr superstar, however, did not make a goalscoring contribution in the game with Bruno Fernandes netting a brace and Bernardo Silva scoring the other goal.
Cristiano Ronaldo has otherwise made a great start to the UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifiers, netting four times in the opening three games. This includes two braces against Luxembourg and Liechtenstein.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner should also start against Iceland. Ronaldo could be partnered alongside Bernardo Silva and Joao Felix in attack. Roberto Martinez, however, has various other attackers at his disposal, including Diogo Jota and Rafael Leao who could also start along with Ronaldo against Iceland.
It is worth mentioning that should Cristiano Ronaldo feature in the game against Iceland, it will be his 200th cap for Portugal. As things stand, the former Real Madrid and Manchester United star has earned 199 caps for his national side and has scored 122 goals along the way. He is already the highest goalscorer in men's international football.
Portugal have made an outstanding start to their qualification campaign. The Euro 2016 winners have won their opening three games and sit at the top of Group J.
Iceland, on the other hand, have won just one of their first three games and are second from bottom in the standings. Only the top two teams from the group secure automatic qualification to Euro 2024 in Germany.
How has Cristiano Ronaldo performed for Portugal against Iceland over the years?
Cristiano Ronaldo has faced Iceland on three occasions. The Portugal skipper has won two out of those three encounters against the Nordic country. They drew 1-1 against Iceland in the opening game of the group stage in their title-winning Euro 2016 campaign.
Despite a positive record against Iceland, Cristiano Ronaldo has only scored once against them. The goal came in a Euro 2012 Qualifier game back in 2010 where the Selecao recorded a comfortable 3-1 victory. Raul Meireles and Helder Postiga were the other goalscorers on that occasion.
Ronaldo is coming to national duty with Portugal on the back of a decent first season with Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia. The 38-year-old forward scored 14 goals and provided two assists from 19 matches across all competitions during the 2022-23 season.